(Including your relationship with yourself.)
How often do you reach for your phone? How many hours do you spend scrolling, texting or swiping each day?
No need to do the math and I’m not here to judge you, I promise, nor is my recent Girl Boner Radio guest, digital sociologist Dr. Julie Albright. We love our devices and social media as much as anyone. But there’s no question that most of us can stand to be more mindful about our digital use, including some pretty major challenges it can present.
If you’re curious about these effects, look no further than Julie Albright. The multi-award winning professor and sought-after keynote speaker who has shared her expertise on The Today Show, CNN, The New York Times and more is a pioneer in the digital technology research arena. Her book, Left to Their Own Devices: How Digital Natives Are Reshaping the American Dream, will release this month by Random House/Prometheus and is currently available for preorder.
Together we explored some of the topics and themes in her groundbreaking book, including:
- How social media is impacting mental health, sex lives and relationships
- Online dating apps and trends
- “Digital foreplay” taking the place of sex
- Snapchat dysphoria and related spikes in cosmetic surgeries
- Fascinating research involving girls’ diaries in the 1800s versus the TV age
- Ways to better navigate virtual spaces, without going bonkers
The episode also features listener responses to my Girl Boner poll about social media and awesome tips from sex and relationship therapist Dr. Megan Fleming for keeping digital technology from fueling a breakup, affair or emotional disconnect with a partner.
Like Dr. Albright’s book, the episode is cautionary, but equally rich in takeaways we can all start applying and benefitting from stat.
“I love technology, but what I’m saying is we’re out of balance,” Julie said toward the end of our chat. “We need to bring that body back and bring nature back and tactility back, to balance it. It’s not about throwing away devices. It’s about listening to our nature. To me, those rising anxiety levels are warning bells that are telling us that something’s out of balance.”
(Anyone else suddenly feel like hiking? Feel free to listen to the episode before or after. ;))
Stream it on iTunes/Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Spotify or right here:
Learn more about Dr. Julie Albright, including upcoming book tour stops for Left to Their Own Devices, at drjuliealbright.com.
Not using social media is the best way, but it is really hard to delete. But it was probably me and my gfs best decision