Alexis was a typical 11-year-old. She loved musical theater and Webkinz. But when she started using Instagram, her normal pre-teen curiosities triggered the social media app to flood her feed with content about anorexia and how to hide eating disorders from your parents. Over the next few years, Alexis' mental health deteriorated so much that she had to be hospitalized. Some families aren't so lucky.
Teen suicide rates have skyrocketed since 2007, and some research has begun to correlate that with the rise of algorithmic, for-profit social media. Platforms like Instagram and TikTok have become central to teenagers social lives, and it's probably not an accident.
Today, Alexis Spence has made a full recovery from her eating disorder, and with her mom Kathleen, has become an advocate for social media reform, especially through legal action. Alli and Lindsey talk with them, along with their lawyer, Matt Bergman, who co-founded the Social Media Victims Law Center. When suing Meta on behalf of families, his legal approach comes from product liability: If tech companies know their products are addictive and harmful to children and choose not to address that, they should be held accountable.
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157 Reddit Gifts (Internet Secret Santa)
[Encore Episode] 113 ClausNet: The Social Network for Santas (December 22, 2019)
156 4chan: The Birthplace of All Memes
[Encore Episode] 94 Sweepers (Originally Published July 2019)
155 Modern Families Are Easier to Make Thanks to the Internet
154 Financial Domination (Allie Eve Knox Returns!)
153 OnlyFans Culture (with Allie Eve Knox)
152 Political Humiliation with Empress Delfina
151 Why Tech Companies Won't Let You Fix Your Own Stuff (Steve Porter, TronicsFix)
150 Virtual Funeral Services (Gathering Us)
149 QAnon Casualties: How to Save a Loved One From Conspiracy Cults
[Encore Episode] 55 How Composer Kevin MacLeod Makes a Living Giving All His Music Away For Free (Originally Published October 22, 2018)
148 Unnecessary Inventions
147 One In an ARMY (BTS / K-Pop Fandom Charity)
146 Solo Female Traveler Network
145 Get a Pen Pal
144 What Makes a Great Online Community?
[Encore Episode] 46 The Women Editing Thousands of Wikipedia Articles in a Quest for Gender Parity (Originally Published Aug 20, 2018)
143 The space cemetery in 'EVE Online'
142 How Does Wikipedia Actually Work?
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