Articles
Plain writing on what social media does to people and what works instead. Every claim links to its source, and the sources are peer-reviewed research, reputable press or public institutions.
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Nobody wants to quit social media first
Students wanted $47 to leave Instagram for four weeks on their own. Yet almost half would pay for everyone to leave together. Why quitting alone is the hard way.
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Why your feed shows you what makes you angry
Posts about the other side get shared most, ranked feeds pick more of them than people say they want, and likes reward their authors. How the loop works, and how to step out.
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Start with the people, not the app
Three questions narrow the directory to two or three choices: who you want to reach, how often you want to hear from them, and whether they will install anything.
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Good apps have a place to stop
Feeds are built with no place to stop. When people put a few seconds' pause in front of their social apps, they closed the app again more than a third of the time.
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Instagram isn't for your friends any more
By Meta's own count, 7% of the time Americans spent on Instagram went to posts from friends. The rest is mostly strangers' videos, and Meta's own tests show why.
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Does social media hurt grades? A little, and struggling students most
On average, phones and social media cost students a little. Where schools banned phones, the students who were behind gained the most. What that means for you.