THE GROWING MIND BY DR. KAREN SUMNER Freelance writer and editor
RECLAIMING OUR CHILDREN’S ATTENTION Spending less time on social media is associated with better academic performance, greater well being and deeper social connection
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WINTER 2024 THE LINK
It is said that if you’re not paying for something in the tech world, you’re the product. More specifically, your attention is the product. Giving our attention to popular social media apps like YouTube, TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook and others is what drives shareholder value to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars. And because attention is a limited resource, tech companies have developed ever more sophisticated ways to gain it and hold it for as long as possible. Why? Because they sell it, mainly to advertis-