Addressing the Mental Health Implications of Digital Life

In this event Dr Ravi Iyer discusses how many people’s lives are increasingly being lived online, with significant implications for mental health. Dr Iyer discusses how many users encounter unwanted or disturbing content and experiences and how many people use digital services excessively with sometimes negative results for their well-being. Dr Iyer discusses how the design choices of online platforms contribute to these trends. He finally assesses how the negative consequences that can arise from this might be mitigated and the role that can be played by companies, governments, and civil society stakeholders in this regard. About the Speaker: Dr Ravi Iyer is the Managing Director of the University of Southern California (USC) Marshall School’s Neely Center. Previously he spent over four years leading data science, research and product teams across Meta to improve the impact of social media on both society and individuals. He has a Ph.D. in social psychology from USC and has co-authored numerous articles on the psychology of values and well-being. He currently advises the UK Office of Communications, the Anxious Generation team, as well as several other jurisdictions on how to improve the societal impact of technology.