Technology
Social Media
![Meta Presents: Building Social Trust in an AI World](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/8ddf485e-1631-4696-a795-d4e3e1501612/240628_social_trust_ai_011.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=180%2C0%2C2667%2C2667&w=290)
Increasingly, AI informs our work output, our social views and our awareness of the world. Join SiriusXM host Mike Muse in conversation with Meta officials to explore the implications of AI for individuals and tech companies as they continue to innovate. Then, go behind the scenes with members of the Meta Oversight Board, who are charged with reviewing the company’s decisi...
![Teens and Screens: The Unabating Scourge of Social Media](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/8214379e-2ce8-4e54-ba3a-f2b5b42982f7/teensandsocialmedia.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=115%2C0%2C5501%2C5504&w=290)
America’s teenagers are facing a mental health crisis; 1 in 3 teen girls say they’ve considered suicide in the past year. Many young people, parents and mental health professionals point to social media as a main culprit. What does science say, and what action is being taken on the legal and regulatory front? And how can you protect your kid’s emotional well-being?
![Healthy Communication: How Truth Can Overpower Disinformation](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/02174c3f-94a0-4660-a498-2e3187fbc3d9/53810359739_2d413e9e55_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=1154%2C0%2C3101%2C3101&w=290)
From the measles vaccine to the origins of COVID, the speed at which disinformation spreads and the harms it can do have become painfully familiar. Communicators are fighting back, leveraging the same digital tools as myth purveyors—podcasts, TikTok, X, and other social media channels—to share scientific information in new ways, engage diverse audiences, combat falsehoods,...
![Getting Candid About Mental Health: Senator John Fetterman Opens Up](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/5dc1631c-435f-4b49-b6f5-56666e816b22/53808552448_98231ab3fa_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=1665%2C0%2C3807%2C3807&w=290)
John Fetterman was campaigning for the US Senate when he suffered a near-fatal stroke. Fortunate that a visiting physician was on duty in a nearby rural hospital, Fetterman survived and went on to win the general election. A few weeks after being sworn in, his longstanding struggle with depression intensified and he entered an inpatient mental health facility. He has trans...
![Mental Health Matters](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/d5c21063-2d3c-4924-bfd8-5fa27f606309/53806482912_f582492ae7_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=5213%2C810%2C3282%2C3282&w=290)
Mental health crises are plaguing Americans. Despite parity mandates that require mental health services to be reimbursed like any other medical service, clinician shortages, knowledge gaps, inequitable access to services, lack of culturally appropriate treatment models, and stigma combine to undermine effective care. To address the growing crisis, we need more research an...
![The Parenting Journey: From Teens to Young Adults](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/e00d7b7f-2a72-49be-a8ba-472bb3d85bb5/53013015954_ccc6118fea_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=864%2C0%2C3532%2C3532&w=290)
Renowned psychologists Lisa Damour, author of The Emotional Lives of Teenagers, and Laurence Steinberg, author of You and Your Adult Child, delve into the complex landscapes of adolescence and young adulthood in today’s society. Both have devoted their careers to studying and understanding adolescents — Damour as a clinical psychologist working with families and organizati...
![What to Take Down, What to Leave Up, and Why](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/db709e40-74ac-4f8e-a756-9fc75571b294/53009734223_cfa5537978_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=672%2C0%2C2993%2C2993&w=290)
Two champions of free speech, one of whom sits on the Facebook Oversight Board, delve into the legal and ethical implications of content moderation online. How do social networks strike a balance between societal values, individual expression, and online safety? How should we find an equilibrium between open dialogue and harmful content?
![Free Speech in the Age of Social Media](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/8a992058-6f19-42d1-92b1-c2167a52b2a3/53007069854_e2071aa681_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=656%2C0%2C2624%2C2624&w=290)
If the First Amendment’s protections against government intrusion are a core tenet of American democracy, what happens when the chief regulators of speech are private technology companies? What is protected, who gets to decide, and what are the implications for our democracy?
![Surgeon General Vivek Murthy Speaks Truth on Public Health, Mental Health, and Our Well-Being](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/af7f0c07-0a67-4102-a46c-32082c3d3554/53000201837_54407b1ca3_h.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=266%2C0%2C1067%2C1067&w=290)
As the nation’s top doctor, US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy helps to advance the health and well-being of all Americans. He has described the growing youth mental health crisis in America as the “defining public health crisis of our time” and warned that social media carries a “profound risk of harm to the mental health of children and adolescents.” Murthy has also highlig...
![Our "Uniquely Stupid" Decade](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/4c554b50-2d18-4e1d-ac75-c75a58168169/52187729914_1328056017_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=1376%2C0%2C5504%2C5504&w=290)
Americans aren’t dumb—at least individually—but something changed in the last ten years that made the country-as-a-whole stupid in an unprecedented way. And yes, it was social media. What was once a place to share cute kid pics became a place to score hits on enemies and undermine institutional trust, and the viral nature of social media empowered the far political extreme...
![The Generation Rewriting the Future: Gen Z](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/c37a7101-79d6-41d6-a1d6-8a87a2afadef/52183845042_2a49a574c5_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=750%2C0%2C3185%2C3185&w=290)
Today's 15- to 25-year-olds — dubbed Gen Z — are true digital natives coming of age against a backdrop of unprecedented political, social, technological, and economic change. These circumstances are shaping a precocious generation that has found its voice and is changing our society, redefining cultural norms, and putting into question decades-old geopolitical and business...
![The Kids Are Alright](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/a7e167eb-c315-4f06-a18e-6750bff88f3f/52185592730_32a0401028_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=1000%2C0%2C4000%2C4000&w=290)
Join this roundtable discussion — led by Aspen Digital’s Vivian Schiller and Zaki Barzinji — for an engaging conversation about the impact of emerging technologies and platforms on youth. We will also be joined by diverse Gen Z leaders, researchers, and industry experts, who will talk about what they see as both the threats and opportunities of today’s digital world, part...
![The Future of Media](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/7ba05939-eb30-4ebc-8209-0f643c7d7db0/52185184895_dfa28b3cf3_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=948%2C0%2C3544%2C3544&w=290)
News organizations find themselves in an unenviable position today: charged with delivering the facts in a post-truth world, all while staying financially viable and navigating a rapidly shifting technological landscape. In this conversation, Noah Oppenheim and Jeffrey Goldberg discuss the long game for media through the critical lenses of editorial, business, and tech. Wh...
![The Kids Are Not Alright–But We Can Help](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/0fc8dd90-7b30-44a8-a4c0-9892f966b08c/52185371448_29a36e828f_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=680%2C0%2C3158%2C3158&w=290)
There’s a mental health crisis plaguing America’s youth. The last decade saw major increases in adolescents who reported having a depressive episode, and “serious loneliness” affected a majority of young adults—and the global pandemic has likely worsened these conditions. The stats are staggering, but we need to do more than just talk about them, and come together as paren...
![#DetoxYourFeed (Workshop)](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/f3e7bd77-aedf-4851-9e60-7582c808240b/52177475917_8c44b78451_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=1376%2C0%2C5504%2C5504&w=290)
One in two girls say toxic beauty advice on social media causes low self-esteem, and seven in ten have felt better after unfollowing idealized beauty content. This research — and wider conversations surrounding social media use and its impacts on teens’ mental wellness — make this conversation more urgent than ever. Join creative and cultural expert Jess Weiner for #DetoxY...
![Democratizing Beauty](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/7b713b2a-5230-4b5d-bf2c-57b685a88672/52176306250_25bb69658a_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C5504%2C5504&w=290)
Technology has revolutionized the way we see and share beauty. From street style rocking luxury fashion houses to the changes in how and what we purchase, social media is disrupting the world of fashion. How does having the world at our fingertips make fashion more accessible and democratic? And in the process – how are we changing the ways in which we express ourselves cr...
![The War on Misinformation](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/aadba9d9-7b47-4777-a20d-cfcf544116f9/52171113469_3a2ca45581_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=996%2C0%2C3961%2C3961&w=290)
COVID-19 vastly accelerated vaccine skepticism, such that even routine childhood immunizations, including shots that had largely eliminated measles, are now being questioned. Misinformation can be as contagious as disease, undermining faith in institutions, jeopardizing public health and safety, and distorting clinical decision making. Come watch a live demonstration that...
![How Facebook Thinks the World Is Changing](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/c7f8c6d0-b9f7-4012-bd6a-a17c1d679d01/AdobeStock_360066448_Editorial_Use_Only.jpeg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=1000%2C0%2C3000%2C3000&w=290)
Facebook holds more power globally than do few other private or public-sector entities. So, hearing from one of its top execs often sheds light on what to expect. The company’s chief product officer, Chris Cox, joins The Atlantic CEO Nicholas Thompson to discuss a wide range of issues regarding the ever-evolving creative economy. What’s the role of virtual reality in the y...
We are increasingly living in different realities of news, politics, and information — a trend that’s undermining the shared foundation of “truth” necessary for proper functioning of society. At risk are public health, elections, and democracy itself. But America’s “fake news” problem actually runs much deeper. What are the roots of our broken information ecosystems, who i...
![Addressing Trust as an Element of Media and Democracy](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/nullf9020078-e434-4527-8066-ea692620aec8/48152074791_332728d052_h.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=266%2C0%2C1067%2C1067&w=290)
This session considers the importance of trust, and a healthy distrust, in the well-being of a democracy and the role of the press in this equation drawing on the report of the Knight Commission on Trust, Media and Democracy released Feb. 5, 2019 titled, “Crisis in Democracy: Renewing Trust in America.” What measures should local journalism, social media, and the public ta...