Collection
What does it mean to be (dis)connected?
![Making Meaning in an Era of Disconnectedness](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/nulla626fe60-80e1-4b29-8270-7f2acf2d1541/48146318952_d462bb6d72_h.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=600&q=80&rect=573%2C0%2C709%2C1065&w=400)
The dramatic rise in suicides, violence, and addiction signal a society disconnected from meaning and a social fabric fraying at its seams. With participation in organized rel...
![Virtual Exchange: Building Empathy and Human Connection Through Digital Story Telling](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/null46de02b7-bd32-40ae-bc08-394a43fa68f0/virtual-exchange-aif19.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C2560%2C1440&w=400)
Every day, young people connect with peers around the world in collaborative, technology-enabled learning experiences where they learn about and with each other. This session...
![The Internet Era: How Connectivity is Reshaping the World](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/null6462e303-865a-44d7-a346-8351c316d971/the_internet_era.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C2555%2C1436&w=400)
The Internet, to date, has been an open system that has enabled ideas to spread across borders, has created transformative new economies, and has helped people connect, create...
![Overly Lonely: How Misunderstanding Others Creates Barriers to Connection](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/null1139d1bd-7560-4b76-ae77-85c4f2624e0b/48133268142_8e9bc777bd_o2.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C5504%2C3096&w=400)
Connecting with others increases happiness and health, but people routinely forgo opportunities for positive connections with friends, family, neighbors, and even strangers. I...
![Emotions and Tech: What Happens When We Code Our Inner Lives?](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/null1139d1bd-7560-4b76-ae77-85c4f2624e0b/48133268142_8e9bc777bd_o2.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=600&q=80&rect=1548%2C0%2C2069%2C3096&w=400)
What if technology could read and respond to emotions the way humans do? It turns out that it already can, and in this session you’ll see a mind-bending live demonstration of...
![Joy is a Form of Resilience](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/d11e24ce-004c-46b4-b904-7eb6f55e3714/AdobeStock_172903374.jpeg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&q=80&rect=984%2C0%2C3333%2C3333&w=400)
Small moments of joy are often the first to go when we're stressed or in a crisis. But they're actually a tool to restore our emotional well-being, says designer Ingrid Fetell...
![Artificial Intimacy: How to Solve Loneliness in a Data-Driven World](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/a82f69e0-e6ab-413f-9532-c3f3f249aaea/28242174337_1b9782c4e2_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=15%2C19%2C3306%2C1862&w=400)
As humans, we have an inherent and intense desire for connection. Social media and our always-on devices have simultaneously fulfilled and thwarted this desire, so what comes...
![How to Stop the Spread of Fake News on Social Media](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/4d5721de-027c-481c-9f10-d32ed5fbcfa1/AIFStockHeroImages.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&q=80&rect=2005%2C0%2C3242%2C3240&w=400)
How are social media platforms contributing to the polarization and radicalization of the Internet? Can we reestablish control over our own information and digital society?
![34741033623 D5a8009e10 H](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/c65bde34-0250-4fdf-9cc3-65d84890ac90/34741033623_d5a8009e10_h.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&mono=ac473e&q=80&rect=55%2C2%2C1066%2C1066&w=400)
![34741033623 D5a8009e10 H](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/c65bde34-0250-4fdf-9cc3-65d84890ac90/34741033623_d5a8009e10_h.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&q=80&rect=55%2C2%2C1066%2C1066&w=400)
Across the industrialized world, millions of people live with sparse human contact.