Click each category to expand.

• Attention

  • The Shallows** by Nicholas Carr*** (A technology critic and member of our Scientific Advisory Board provides an early warning about how digital technology fragments our attention.)
  • Remedies for the Distracted Mind* (A neuroscientist and psychologist prescribe research-backed remedies for our digital distraction.)
  • Podcast: What is Technology Doing to Us? (Interview w/ Tristan Harris)* (A warning about the persuasive design tactics that permeate the digital environment and a plea for more humane methods.)
  • Video: It’s not you. Phones are designed to be addicting.
  • Out of sight is not out of mind: The impact of restricting wireless mobile device use on anxiety levels among low, moderate and high users
  • Brain drain: the mere presence of one’s own phone reduces available cognitive capacity
  • "Silence Your Phones": Smartphone Notifications Increase Inattention and Hyperactivity Symptoms
  • Why It’s OK to Block Ads
  • Productivity in Peril: Higher and Higher Rates of Technology Multitasking
  • Smartphone use undermines enjoyment of face-to-face social interactions
  • Smartphones distract parents from cultivating feelings of connection when spending time with their children
  • The Attention Merchants by Tim Wu
  • The Distracted Mind** by Adam Gazzaley & Larry Rosen**
  • Center for Humane Technology/Time Well Spent Reading List
  • Guide to Screen Addictions and Responsible Digital Use: an in-depth guide to screen addiction and responsible digital use, including informative insights into increased screen use during COVID-19 and more.

• Well-being/Anxiety/Depression/Loneliness/Addiction

  • Social Media Use & Mental Health: A Review (Haidt & Twenge Google Doc)* (After discovering counter-evidence to their fears about teens & social media, researchers Jonathan Haidt and Jean Twenge put together this Google Doc to collate the varied findings on social media & mental health.)
  • Worry Over Social Media May Be Misplaced* (An article on Jeff Hancock’s soon-to-be-published meta-analysis of social media & well-being research, which found a null result.)
  • Digitally connected, socially disconnected: The effects of relying on technology rather than other people* (A study on the core tradeoff that characterizes digital tools: increased efficiency at the cost of social connection.)
  • Beyond Cherry-Picking* (Because of their large sample sizes, social media studies open themselves up to multiple analyses and post-hoc claims to statistical significance. This article explains how to mitigate that problem.)
  • Have smartphones really destroyed a generation? We don’t know.* (A journalistic summary of the many problems with social media research, including the poverty of screen-time as a metric.)
  • Podcast: A GPS in the Garden of Forking Paths (Interview w/ Amy Orben)* (An extremely useful podcast on the importance of open science methods in social media research.)
  • Relationship Between Peer Victimization, Cyberbullying, and Suicide in Children and Adolescents
  • Motivational, emotional, and behavioral correlates of FOMO
  • Social Media’s Enduring Effect on Adolescent Life Satisfaction
  • Irresistible** by Adam Alter**
  • Is technology addiction a myth?
  • The Association Between Adolescent Well-being and Digital Technology Use
  • Smartphones reduce smiles between strangers
  • Screens, Teens, and Psychological Well-being
  • The Future of Happiness
  • Stop blaming teens’ mental health issues on “screen time”
  • Is our use of digital technologies affecting our brain health?

• Sleep

  • Evening use of light-emitting e-Readers negatively affects sleep
  • Association Between Portable Screen-Based Media Device Access or Use and Sleep Outcomes
  • Sleeping with technology: cognitive, affective, and technology usage predictors of sleep problems among college students

• Polarization

  • #Republic: Divided Democracy in the Age of Social Media by Cass Sunstein
  • Technology is Not Driving Us Apart After All

• Design

  • Hooked by Nir Eyal* (A bible of persuasive and addictive design techniques, all of which are implemented the apps many of us use daily.)
  • Video: How Dark Patterns Trick You Online* (Dark patterns are one of the more insidious persuasive design techniques. This video explains what they are and walks through one of the worst ones.)
  • Gamification: Toward a Definition
  • Nudge by Cass Sunstein & Richard Thaler
  • Is Anything Worth Maximizing?
  • Designers, are you making people strong or weak?
  • Do Artifacts Have Politics?
  • Humane Tech Design Guide
  • Humane Tech App Ratings
  • Humane Tech Ledger of Harms
  • Humane by Design

• Twitter List