This past Sunday, The GovLab attended the AFS Youth Summit in New York. The annual event allows young people from around the globe to engage and coordinate on the issues that affect them. At a time when many youth are left out of policy discussions or engaged only as an afterthought, it is a vital forum for young leaders.

One issue that was particularly important for the attendees—which our Data Program led a discussion on—was “digital well-being”. Led by The GovLab’s Stefaan Verhulst and Andrew J. Zahuranec, we asked a packed room of youth to describe their experiences using digital platforms and what they saw as the biggest challenges and opportunities.

Opening Discussion

The event began with a short panel discussion with several youth leaders—Srihitha Dasari (Project No Bounds), Bayan Alrehaili (MISK Foundation), and Desiree Junfijiah (United Nations Foundation)—where they explained how they thought of the opportunities and challenges of the digital age. 

Together, the trio described the situation they saw online. They talked about how online spaces offer “a place of community and connection” on one side and “pressure and insecurity” on the other. They talked about the ways new technologies had expanded the resources they had access to but also fears about how these same tools could undermine their identity or lead to addiction. They talked about the “digital dilemma”—the need to build spaces that help expand their potential without technology’s endless possibilities serving to hinder development. 

Through all this, Stefaan offered a possible framework for breaking apart these issues. Information overload, inappropriate content, mental health stressors, unsafe content, addictive platform design, and social pressures all affect how youth engage online.

Group Discussions

But this was only part of the exercise. After this discussion, attendees separated into smaller groups to explain their perspectives on these issues. What is digital well-being? What is the most important part of digital well-being? What approaches might improve how young people engage with the digital ecosystem?

The groups discussed a variety of challenges that they faced. Some talked about the difficulties in maintaining real life–online balance and a sense of “authenticity” at a time when one is expected to always be connected. Others talked about the need to ensure platforms remain a place for open dialogue without harassment or manipulative content. Still others focused on issues of digital literacy and the digital divide.

Ultimately, however, we noted three major themes emerging from the discussion:

1. Digital well-being and mental well-being are inseparable: Young people live as much of their lives online as they do in real life. It is an extension of their real selves and, as such, their ability to navigate through digital spaces has a major impact on their ability to thrive. Participants spoke about the ways that harassment, abuse, and deceptive content undermined their well-being. 

2. Young people are exhausted with today’s social media: Participants felt that many platforms were designed with their well-being as a secondary concern. Instead, they noted how much of social media has been designed to maximize their time and attention and how the messages they receive through it are often detrimental to their self-esteem and self-conception, if not outright unsafe. Online spaces had opened up new opportunities, but many participants urged for tech that was “more human”. 

3. Youth have practical ideas to address these challenges: Finally, the discussion revealed just how engaged young people are on these issues. Many offered suggestions on regulation, content standards, digital literacy course design, and platform governance. There was intense interest and excitement in these issues, but all too often, that is not acted upon. 

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This event reveals not just the interest in digital literacy among young people but the critical role that youth assemblies can play in sparking new ideas and ensuring young people are represented in decisions that affect them. We hope to continue these deliberations in the future and offer young people the space they need to engage with real policymakers.

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