iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Open on Bluesky →

Casey Newton @caseynewton.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 03/07/2026

I wrote about the rapid spread of social media bans and why I think the researcher Candice Odgers' recent TED talk on the subject missed the mark. (Thank you for coming to MY TED talk.) www.platformer.news/social-media-ba…

Finally — and this is where Odgers truly lost me — she ends by proposing her regime of
extra school counselors be funded by what she calls a "big ol' tax on tech." It's an applause
line in the speech, but only because Odgers' audience believes the exact thing she's spent
the past 10 minutes arguing against — the idea that tech companies are responsible for
teen mental health issues and ought to pay for it. If social media is truly "one of the least
influential factors" in teen mental health, as she argues here, why does she want them to
pay the clean-up costs?