Examining How Modern Technology Impacts Real People
Here comes another study. PsyPost published a fascinating and somewhat unsettling piece titled How smartphone use and feelings of disconnection fuel a vicious cycle, reporting on a new study from the journal Addictive Behaviors. The study tracked 104 first-year university students over 30 consecutive days and found clear evidence of a self-reinforcing loop: the more … Read more
An article published in Dexerto highlights a 2024 study from China’s Zhejiang University that found a direct correlation between heavy consumption of short-form video content, such as TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts, and reduced executive control in the brain. The research, which monitored 48 participants using EEG technology during cognitive tests, showed that people … Read more
Fortune recently published an article titled “Tech billionaires are publicly shielding their children from the products that made them rich” that highlights how Silicon Valley’s most powerful figures, including Peter Thiel, Bill Gates, and Steve Jobs, strictly limit their own children’s access to the very technologies they created and profited from. The article notes that … Read more
An article published on WFMD’s Free Talk examined how AI companions are changing the way teenagers form emotional bonds and seek comfort. The piece highlights growing parental concern over teens relying on chatbots like Character.ai, ChatGPT, and Snapchat’s My AI for emotional support, relationship advice, and companionship during difficult times. When Loneliness Becomes a Business … Read more
A research paper published by MIT titled “Your Brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of Cognitive Debt when Using an AI Assistant for Essay Writing Task” examined what happens to our brains when we use AI tools like ChatGPT for writing. Researchers at Boston-area universities tracked 54 participants across multiple essay-writing sessions, measuring brain activity, memory retention, … Read more
After the study from China about screen addiction, it’s India’s turn. India’s Economic Survey 2025–26 has flagged a troubling trio of public health crises: rising obesity, mental health decline, and digital addiction, all fueled by rapid urbanization, processed food consumption, and near-universal smartphone access. The report warns these trends are eroding productivity, straining healthcare systems, … Read more
A new study published in Psychology Research and Behavior Management, Parent-Adolescent Mobile Phone Addiction and Mental Health: Actor-Partner Effects in 4,633 Chinese Dyads, examines how mobile phone addiction in parents and adolescents influences depression and anxiety within families. The research, based on a large sample of 4,633 parent-child pairs in China, found that excessive phone … Read more
TikTok settles youth addiction lawsuit as trial against Meta and YouTube begins A landmark lawsuit accusing social media giants of deliberately designing addictive platforms that harm children’s mental health has taken a turn, with TikTok settling just as jury selection began in a California trial against Meta and YouTube. The case, brought by a 19-year-old … Read more