The Battle for Attention: Digital Wellbeing in an Age of Big Tech

Social media platforms send constant signals to children and young people - about who is online, who has read what, and what others' Snapscores are. This affects both relationships and mental life, and that is precisely the phenomenon this lecture examines.

Malene Charlotte Larsen, Ph.D. and lecturer in social media at Aalborg University, reviews the platforms young people use most and shows - based on current research, including the SoMeWell project - how the design choices of these platforms do not necessarily promote wellbeing and community. Along the way, she raises questions about what it takes to thrive digitally, how to take young people's own perspectives seriously, and how to strengthen technological understanding when big tech competes intensely for our time and attention.

Larsen has researched digital youth culture since the mid-2000s and leads the research group Digital Media in Everyday Life. Her recent work covers young people's use of Snapchat, the role of algorithms in everyday life, and the connection between social media design and children's wellbeing. Read more about her research at: https://vbn.aau.dk/da/persons/malenel/

Trekanten's Cafe is open, so there is an opportunity to eat and buy refreshments in connection with the event.