WE’RE ONLY STARTING to see the effects of overusing technology — on our young people, and on ourselves.

Across my career in media, tech and research, I’ve thought a lot about how our lives have changed because of technology. How do we help people build meaningful relationships and communities? How is technology a friend or a foe in reaching this goal?

It’s been one year since Jonathan Haidt’s The Anxious Generation was published — a book that showcased the growing library of data that explains the impact of a “phone-based,” not a “play-based” childhood. Books like these shine a light on a turning point — particularly between 2010 and 2015 — when the internet began to reshape how we live, think and connect. Tech leaders and governments didn’t seem especially interested in how people’s behaviour was shifting. And now, in 2025, we’re seeing the consequences: a flood of information, political instability and growing personal struggles.

Dopamine Nation, another powerful book in this space, explores how addictive our behaviours can become — not just with drugs or gambling, but with tech. It talks about the balance between pain and pleasure in our lives, and how honesty — real honesty — about our habits is the only way forward.

Closer to home, we’re seeing all of this play out in stark ways. Every day in the news, we come across stories regularly where perpetrators harass, torment and assault victims with the help of technology — sharing videos of their crimes, harassing people online and coordinating campaigns. These aren’t just “youth issues.” These are adult and society-wide issues.

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Meanwhile, we’re hearing suggestions that Adolescence — a Netflix series dealing with online culture and teenage life — should be shown in schools. While that might spark discussion, we also need to ask whether streaming content can or should fill the role of structured education and regulation.

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