THINKING
Tanya writes regularly on digital wellbeing, digital detox, Big Tech, screen-life balance, cybersafety, persuasive tech, the attention economy and other topical issues related to the digital world.
Screen time this summer: curation before clocks
Panic has been mounting in parents all across the globe over screen time in the pandemic. Research has shown links between excess screen time and poor diet and body mass outcomes, and studies have been published on the negative impact on mental health from social...
The other pandemic: cybercrime
During the Covid-19 pandemic we've all been spending far more time online than usual and so have another group: cybercriminals. According to Ofcom we're now spending on average four hours online a day. This, combined with increased anxiety and stress around the...
Digital wellbeing: limiting screens after lockdown
We’ve all been guilty of sometimes excessive tech use during lockdown. As lockdown lifts, here are some ways to limit screens and improve digital wellbeing. fro the whole family.
Online classrooms – helping or harming children’s learning?
Thanks to the global pandemic most countries are now operating in one form or another of lockdown or quarantine. Children and young people have been sent home from schools and places of higher education and lessons and exams are now entirely being delivered online....
2019 Internet Trends Report Reveals Our Concerns About Digital Overload
Venture capitalist Mary Meeker published her annual Internet Trends report this week and it paints a picture of consumers increasingly concerned about digital overload and taking steps to cut down, particularly on social media and smartphone use. Adults 'almost...
Will the #OnlineHarms whitepaper bring the sheriff to the digital Wild West?
Whether you think it went too far or not far enough the UK's Department of Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) 'Online Harms' white paper published yesterday is a welcome development in the debate about online safety. Freedom of speech versus protection of the vulnerable...
Your smartphone addiction is making your children unhappy
I asked a group of 11 year olds how their parents’ smartphone habits made them feel, and what they would like to say to them about it. This is what they said.
When’s the right age to get a smartphone?
It’s a hotly debated topic and the question I get asked the most when I talk to parents and children in schools on internet safety “When’s the right age to get a smartphone?”
Is It Time To Rethink Smartphones in Schools?
As we get to the end of another school year I'm getting more involved with in-school discussions on what smartphone policies should be for the next academic year. This is a really good time to be thinking about it so that pupils and parents are forewarned before...
BOOKS
Tanya is the author of three books on our complicated relationship with technology: ‘Off.’ and ‘Stop Staring at Screens’ are out now. Tanya's third book ‘My Brain Has Too Many Tabs Open’ will be published 21st September 2021 in the US and UK.
OFF: Your Digital Detox for a Better Life
"She presents simple ideas alongside practical suggestions for how to implement them - leaving you inspired and motivated by the end."
Stop Staring at Screens!
"Perhaps the best compliment I can pay this is that as soon as I started reading this, my 13-year-old son started looking over my shoulder, and in short order said, "I want to read this as soon as you're done. And I want to do this."
My Brain Has Too Many Tabs Open
How to Untangle our Relationship with Tech - Available for Pre-Order Now.
