essay on negative impact of technology

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• 10 February 2020

Scrutinizing the effects of digital technology on mental health

• Jonathan Haidt &

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The topic in brief

• There is an ongoing debate about whether social media and the use of digital devices are detrimental to mental health.

• Adolescents tend to be heavy users of these devices, and especially of social media.

• Rates of teenage depression began to rise around 2012, when adolescent use of social media became common (Fig. 1).

• Some evidence indicates that frequent users of social media have higher rates of depression and anxiety than do light users.

• But perhaps digital devices could provide a way of gathering data about mental health in a systematic way, and make interventions more timely.

Figure 1 | Depression on the rise. Rates of depression among teenagers in the United States have increased steadily since 2012. Rates are higher and are increasing more rapidly for girls than for boys. Some researchers think that social media is the cause of this increase, whereas others see social media as a way of tackling it. (Data taken from the US National Survey on Drug Use and Health, Table 11.2b; go.nature.com/3ayjaww )

JONATHAN HAIDT: A guilty verdict

A sudden increase in the rates of depression, anxiety and self-harm was seen in adolescents — particularly girls — in the United States and the United Kingdom around 2012 or 2013 (see go.nature.com/2up38hw ). Only one suspect was in the right place at the right time to account for this sudden change: social media. Its use by teenagers increased most quickly between 2009 and 2011, by which point two-thirds of 15–17-year-olds were using it on a daily basis 1 . Some researchers defend social media, arguing that there is only circumstantial evidence for its role in mental-health problems 2 , 3 . And, indeed, several studies 2 , 3 show that there is only a small correlation between time spent on screens and bad mental-health outcomes. However, I present three arguments against this defence.

First, the papers that report small or null effects usually focus on ‘screen time’, but it is not films or video chats with friends that damage mental health. When research papers allow us to zoom in on social media, rather than looking at screen time as a whole, the correlations with depression are larger, and they are larger still when we look specifically at girls ( go.nature.com/2u74der ). The sex difference is robust, and there are several likely causes for it. Girls use social media much more than do boys (who, in turn, spend more of their time gaming). And, for girls more than boys, social life and status tend to revolve around intimacy and inclusion versus exclusion 4 , making them more vulnerable to both the ‘fear of missing out’ and the relational aggression that social media facilitates.

Second, although correlational studies can provide only circumstantial evidence, most of the experiments published in recent years have found evidence of causation ( go.nature.com/2u74der ). In these studies, people are randomly assigned to groups that are asked to continue using social media or to reduce their use substantially. After a few weeks, people who reduce their use generally report an improvement in mood or a reduction in loneliness or symptoms of depression.

The best way forward

Third, many researchers seem to be thinking about social media as if it were sugar: safe in small to moderate quantities, and harmful only if teenagers consume large quantities. But, unlike sugar, social media does not act just on those who consume it. It has radically transformed the nature of peer relationships, family relationships and daily activities 5 . When most of the 11-year-olds in a class are on Instagram (as was the case in my son’s school), there can be pervasive effects on everyone. Children who opt out can find themselves isolated. A simple dose–response model cannot capture the full effects of social media, yet nearly all of the debate among researchers so far has been over the size of the dose–response effect. To cite just one suggestive finding of what lies beyond that model: network effects for depression and anxiety are large, and bad mental health spreads more contagiously between women than between men 6 .

In conclusion, digital media in general undoubtedly has many beneficial uses, including the treatment of mental illness. But if you focus on social media, you’ll find stronger evidence of harm, and less exculpatory evidence, especially for its millions of under-age users.

What should we do while researchers hash out the meaning of these conflicting findings? I would urge a focus on middle schools (roughly 11–13-year-olds in the United States), both for researchers and policymakers. Any US state could quickly conduct an informative experiment beginning this September: randomly assign a portion of school districts to ban smartphone access for students in middle school, while strongly encouraging parents to prevent their children from opening social-media accounts until they begin high school (at around 14). Within 2 years, we would know whether the policy reversed the otherwise steady rise of mental-health problems among middle-school students, and whether it also improved classroom dynamics (as rated by teachers) and test scores. Such system-wide and cross-school interventions would be an excellent way to study the emergent effects of social media on the social lives and mental health of today’s adolescents.

NICK ALLEN: Use digital technology to our advantage

It is appealing to condemn social media out of hand on the basis of the — generally rather poor-quality and inconsistent — evidence suggesting that its use is associated with mental-health problems 7 . But focusing only on its potential harmful effects is comparable to proposing that the only question to ask about cars is whether people can die driving them. The harmful effects might be real, but they don’t tell the full story. The task of research should be to understand what patterns of digital-device and social-media use can lead to beneficial versus harmful effects 7 , and to inform evidence-based approaches to policy, education and regulation.

Long-standing problems have hampered our efforts to improve access to, and the quality of, mental-health services and support. Digital technology has the potential to address some of these challenges. For instance, consider the challenges associated with collecting data on human behaviour. Assessment in mental-health care and research relies almost exclusively on self-reporting, but the resulting data are subjective and burdensome to collect. As a result, assessments are conducted so infrequently that they do not provide insights into the temporal dynamics of symptoms, which can be crucial for both diagnosis and treatment planning.

By contrast, mobile phones and other Internet-connected devices provide an opportunity to continuously collect objective information on behaviour in the context of people’s real lives, generating a rich data set that can provide insight into the extent and timing of mental-health needs in individuals 8 , 9 . By building apps that can track our digital exhaust (the data generated by our everyday digital lives, including our social-media use), we can gain insights into aspects of behaviour that are well-established building blocks of mental health and illness, such as mood, social communication, sleep and physical activity.

Stress and the city

These data can, in turn, be used to empower individuals, by giving them actionable insights into patterns of behaviour that might otherwise have remained unseen. For example, subtle shifts in patterns of sleep or social communication can provide early warning signs of deteriorating mental health. Data on these patterns can be used to alert people to the need for self-management before the patterns — and the associated symptoms — become more severe. Individuals can also choose to share these data with health professionals or researchers. For instance, in the Our Data Helps initiative, individuals who have experienced a suicidal crisis, or the relatives of those who have died by suicide, can donate their digital data to research into suicide risk.

Because mobile devices are ever-present in people’s lives, they offer an opportunity to provide interventions that are timely, personalized and scalable. Currently, mental-health services are mainly provided through a century-old model in which they are made available at times chosen by the mental-health practitioner, rather than at the person’s time of greatest need. But Internet-connected devices are facilitating the development of a wave of ‘just-in-time’ interventions 10 for mental-health care and support.

A compelling example of these interventions involves short-term risk for suicide 9 , 11 — for which early detection could save many lives. Most of the effective approaches to suicide prevention work by interrupting suicidal actions and supporting alternative methods of coping at the moment of greatest risk. If these moments can be detected in an individual’s digital exhaust, a wide range of intervention options become available, from providing information about coping skills and social support, to the initiation of crisis responses. So far, just-in-time approaches have been applied mainly to behaviours such as eating or substance abuse 8 . But with the development of an appropriate research base, these approaches have the potential to provide a major advance in our ability to respond to, and prevent, mental-health crises.

These advantages are particularly relevant to teenagers. Because of their extensive use of digital devices, adolescents are especially vulnerable to the devices’ risks and burdens. And, given the increases in mental-health problems in this age group, teens would also benefit most from improvements in mental-health prevention and treatment. If we use the social and data-gathering functions of Internet-connected devices in the right ways, we might achieve breakthroughs in our ability to improve mental health and well-being.

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Competing Interests

N.A. has an equity interest in Ksana Health, a company he co-founded and which has the sole commercial licence for certain versions of the Effortless Assessment of Risk States (EARS) mobile-phone application and some related EARS tools. This intellectual property was developed as part of his research at the University of Oregon’s Center for Digital Mental Health (CDMH).

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Essay Samples on Negative Impact of Technology

Negative effects of technology on education: a closer look.

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1. Negative Effects of Technology on Education: A Closer Look

2. Short About Negative Effects of Technology: A Closer Look

3. The Negative Impact of Technology on Education: Balancing Learning

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5. What is Cryptocurrency Addiction: a Modern-Day Obsession

6. Negative Effects of Technology on Child Development and Mental Health

7. Technology Makes Us Lonely: The Negatives of the Progress

8. Negative Effects of Technology on Child Development

9. Social Media and Technology Makes Us Lonely and Isolated

10. Negative Impact Of Technology On Modern Society

11. The Concept of Overcoming Technological Entrenchment in Society

12. Extremely Negative Impact Of Technology Within Society

13. American Society’s Growing Dependent On Technology

14. Exploring Whether Society Is Too Dependent On Technology

15. Ethics Of Mobile Phone Overuse And Its Impact On Interpersonal Relationships

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Promises and Pitfalls of Technology

Politics and privacy, private-sector influence and big tech, state competition and conflict, author biography, how is technology changing the world, and how should the world change technology.

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Josephine Wolff; How Is Technology Changing the World, and How Should the World Change Technology?. Global Perspectives 1 February 2021; 2 (1): 27353. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/gp.2021.27353

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Technologies are becoming increasingly complicated and increasingly interconnected. Cars, airplanes, medical devices, financial transactions, and electricity systems all rely on more computer software than they ever have before, making them seem both harder to understand and, in some cases, harder to control. Government and corporate surveillance of individuals and information processing relies largely on digital technologies and artificial intelligence, and therefore involves less human-to-human contact than ever before and more opportunities for biases to be embedded and codified in our technological systems in ways we may not even be able to identify or recognize. Bioengineering advances are opening up new terrain for challenging philosophical, political, and economic questions regarding human-natural relations. Additionally, the management of these large and small devices and systems is increasingly done through the cloud, so that control over them is both very remote and removed from direct human or social control. The study of how to make technologies like artificial intelligence or the Internet of Things “explainable” has become its own area of research because it is so difficult to understand how they work or what is at fault when something goes wrong (Gunning and Aha 2019) .

This growing complexity makes it more difficult than ever—and more imperative than ever—for scholars to probe how technological advancements are altering life around the world in both positive and negative ways and what social, political, and legal tools are needed to help shape the development and design of technology in beneficial directions. This can seem like an impossible task in light of the rapid pace of technological change and the sense that its continued advancement is inevitable, but many countries around the world are only just beginning to take significant steps toward regulating computer technologies and are still in the process of radically rethinking the rules governing global data flows and exchange of technology across borders.

These are exciting times not just for technological development but also for technology policy—our technologies may be more advanced and complicated than ever but so, too, are our understandings of how they can best be leveraged, protected, and even constrained. The structures of technological systems as determined largely by government and institutional policies and those structures have tremendous implications for social organization and agency, ranging from open source, open systems that are highly distributed and decentralized, to those that are tightly controlled and closed, structured according to stricter and more hierarchical models. And just as our understanding of the governance of technology is developing in new and interesting ways, so, too, is our understanding of the social, cultural, environmental, and political dimensions of emerging technologies. We are realizing both the challenges and the importance of mapping out the full range of ways that technology is changing our society, what we want those changes to look like, and what tools we have to try to influence and guide those shifts.

Technology can be a source of tremendous optimism. It can help overcome some of the greatest challenges our society faces, including climate change, famine, and disease. For those who believe in the power of innovation and the promise of creative destruction to advance economic development and lead to better quality of life, technology is a vital economic driver (Schumpeter 1942) . But it can also be a tool of tremendous fear and oppression, embedding biases in automated decision-making processes and information-processing algorithms, exacerbating economic and social inequalities within and between countries to a staggering degree, or creating new weapons and avenues for attack unlike any we have had to face in the past. Scholars have even contended that the emergence of the term technology in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries marked a shift from viewing individual pieces of machinery as a means to achieving political and social progress to the more dangerous, or hazardous, view that larger-scale, more complex technological systems were a semiautonomous form of progress in and of themselves (Marx 2010) . More recently, technologists have sharply criticized what they view as a wave of new Luddites, people intent on slowing the development of technology and turning back the clock on innovation as a means of mitigating the societal impacts of technological change (Marlowe 1970) .

At the heart of fights over new technologies and their resulting global changes are often two conflicting visions of technology: a fundamentally optimistic one that believes humans use it as a tool to achieve greater goals, and a fundamentally pessimistic one that holds that technological systems have reached a point beyond our control. Technology philosophers have argued that neither of these views is wholly accurate and that a purely optimistic or pessimistic view of technology is insufficient to capture the nuances and complexity of our relationship to technology (Oberdiek and Tiles 1995) . Understanding technology and how we can make better decisions about designing, deploying, and refining it requires capturing that nuance and complexity through in-depth analysis of the impacts of different technological advancements and the ways they have played out in all their complicated and controversial messiness across the world.

These impacts are often unpredictable as technologies are adopted in new contexts and come to be used in ways that sometimes diverge significantly from the use cases envisioned by their designers. The internet, designed to help transmit information between computer networks, became a crucial vehicle for commerce, introducing unexpected avenues for crime and financial fraud. Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, designed to connect friends and families through sharing photographs and life updates, became focal points of election controversies and political influence. Cryptocurrencies, originally intended as a means of decentralized digital cash, have become a significant environmental hazard as more and more computing resources are devoted to mining these forms of virtual money. One of the crucial challenges in this area is therefore recognizing, documenting, and even anticipating some of these unexpected consequences and providing mechanisms to technologists for how to think through the impacts of their work, as well as possible other paths to different outcomes (Verbeek 2006) . And just as technological innovations can cause unexpected harm, they can also bring about extraordinary benefits—new vaccines and medicines to address global pandemics and save thousands of lives, new sources of energy that can drastically reduce emissions and help combat climate change, new modes of education that can reach people who would otherwise have no access to schooling. Regulating technology therefore requires a careful balance of mitigating risks without overly restricting potentially beneficial innovations.

Nations around the world have taken very different approaches to governing emerging technologies and have adopted a range of different technologies themselves in pursuit of more modern governance structures and processes (Braman 2009) . In Europe, the precautionary principle has guided much more anticipatory regulation aimed at addressing the risks presented by technologies even before they are fully realized. For instance, the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation focuses on the responsibilities of data controllers and processors to provide individuals with access to their data and information about how that data is being used not just as a means of addressing existing security and privacy threats, such as data breaches, but also to protect against future developments and uses of that data for artificial intelligence and automated decision-making purposes. In Germany, Technische Überwachungsvereine, or TÜVs, perform regular tests and inspections of technological systems to assess and minimize risks over time, as the tech landscape evolves. In the United States, by contrast, there is much greater reliance on litigation and liability regimes to address safety and security failings after-the-fact. These different approaches reflect not just the different legal and regulatory mechanisms and philosophies of different nations but also the different ways those nations prioritize rapid development of the technology industry versus safety, security, and individual control. Typically, governance innovations move much more slowly than technological innovations, and regulations can lag years, or even decades, behind the technologies they aim to govern.

In addition to this varied set of national regulatory approaches, a variety of international and nongovernmental organizations also contribute to the process of developing standards, rules, and norms for new technologies, including the International Organization for Standardization­ and the International Telecommunication Union. These multilateral and NGO actors play an especially important role in trying to define appropriate boundaries for the use of new technologies by governments as instruments of control for the state.

At the same time that policymakers are under scrutiny both for their decisions about how to regulate technology as well as their decisions about how and when to adopt technologies like facial recognition themselves, technology firms and designers have also come under increasing criticism. Growing recognition that the design of technologies can have far-reaching social and political implications means that there is more pressure on technologists to take into consideration the consequences of their decisions early on in the design process (Vincenti 1993; Winner 1980) . The question of how technologists should incorporate these social dimensions into their design and development processes is an old one, and debate on these issues dates back to the 1970s, but it remains an urgent and often overlooked part of the puzzle because so many of the supposedly systematic mechanisms for assessing the impacts of new technologies in both the private and public sectors are primarily bureaucratic, symbolic processes rather than carrying any real weight or influence.

Technologists are often ill-equipped or unwilling to respond to the sorts of social problems that their creations have—often unwittingly—exacerbated, and instead point to governments and lawmakers to address those problems (Zuckerberg 2019) . But governments often have few incentives to engage in this area. This is because setting clear standards and rules for an ever-evolving technological landscape can be extremely challenging, because enforcement of those rules can be a significant undertaking requiring considerable expertise, and because the tech sector is a major source of jobs and revenue for many countries that may fear losing those benefits if they constrain companies too much. This indicates not just a need for clearer incentives and better policies for both private- and public-sector entities but also a need for new mechanisms whereby the technology development and design process can be influenced and assessed by people with a wider range of experiences and expertise. If we want technologies to be designed with an eye to their impacts, who is responsible for predicting, measuring, and mitigating those impacts throughout the design process? Involving policymakers in that process in a more meaningful way will also require training them to have the analytic and technical capacity to more fully engage with technologists and understand more fully the implications of their decisions.

At the same time that tech companies seem unwilling or unable to rein in their creations, many also fear they wield too much power, in some cases all but replacing governments and international organizations in their ability to make decisions that affect millions of people worldwide and control access to information, platforms, and audiences (Kilovaty 2020) . Regulators around the world have begun considering whether some of these companies have become so powerful that they violate the tenets of antitrust laws, but it can be difficult for governments to identify exactly what those violations are, especially in the context of an industry where the largest players often provide their customers with free services. And the platforms and services developed by tech companies are often wielded most powerfully and dangerously not directly by their private-sector creators and operators but instead by states themselves for widespread misinformation campaigns that serve political purposes (Nye 2018) .

Since the largest private entities in the tech sector operate in many countries, they are often better poised to implement global changes to the technological ecosystem than individual states or regulatory bodies, creating new challenges to existing governance structures and hierarchies. Just as it can be challenging to provide oversight for government use of technologies, so, too, oversight of the biggest tech companies, which have more resources, reach, and power than many nations, can prove to be a daunting task. The rise of network forms of organization and the growing gig economy have added to these challenges, making it even harder for regulators to fully address the breadth of these companies’ operations (Powell 1990) . The private-public partnerships that have emerged around energy, transportation, medical, and cyber technologies further complicate this picture, blurring the line between the public and private sectors and raising critical questions about the role of each in providing critical infrastructure, health care, and security. How can and should private tech companies operating in these different sectors be governed, and what types of influence do they exert over regulators? How feasible are different policy proposals aimed at technological innovation, and what potential unintended consequences might they have?

Conflict between countries has also spilled over significantly into the private sector in recent years, most notably in the case of tensions between the United States and China over which technologies developed in each country will be permitted by the other and which will be purchased by other customers, outside those two countries. Countries competing to develop the best technology is not a new phenomenon, but the current conflicts have major international ramifications and will influence the infrastructure that is installed and used around the world for years to come. Untangling the different factors that feed into these tussles as well as whom they benefit and whom they leave at a disadvantage is crucial for understanding how governments can most effectively foster technological innovation and invention domestically as well as the global consequences of those efforts. As much of the world is forced to choose between buying technology from the United States or from China, how should we understand the long-term impacts of those choices and the options available to people in countries without robust domestic tech industries? Does the global spread of technologies help fuel further innovation in countries with smaller tech markets, or does it reinforce the dominance of the states that are already most prominent in this sector? How can research universities maintain global collaborations and research communities in light of these national competitions, and what role does government research and development spending play in fostering innovation within its own borders and worldwide? How should intellectual property protections evolve to meet the demands of the technology industry, and how can those protections be enforced globally?

These conflicts between countries sometimes appear to challenge the feasibility of truly global technologies and networks that operate across all countries through standardized protocols and design features. Organizations like the International Organization for Standardization, the World Intellectual Property Organization, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, and many others have tried to harmonize these policies and protocols across different countries for years, but have met with limited success when it comes to resolving the issues of greatest tension and disagreement among nations. For technology to operate in a global environment, there is a need for a much greater degree of coordination among countries and the development of common standards and norms, but governments continue to struggle to agree not just on those norms themselves but even the appropriate venue and processes for developing them. Without greater global cooperation, is it possible to maintain a global network like the internet or to promote the spread of new technologies around the world to address challenges of sustainability? What might help incentivize that cooperation moving forward, and what could new structures and process for governance of global technologies look like? Why has the tech industry’s self-regulation culture persisted? Do the same traditional drivers for public policy, such as politics of harmonization and path dependency in policy-making, still sufficiently explain policy outcomes in this space? As new technologies and their applications spread across the globe in uneven ways, how and when do they create forces of change from unexpected places?

These are some of the questions that we hope to address in the Technology and Global Change section through articles that tackle new dimensions of the global landscape of designing, developing, deploying, and assessing new technologies to address major challenges the world faces. Understanding these processes requires synthesizing knowledge from a range of different fields, including sociology, political science, economics, and history, as well as technical fields such as engineering, climate science, and computer science. A crucial part of understanding how technology has created global change and, in turn, how global changes have influenced the development of new technologies is understanding the technologies themselves in all their richness and complexity—how they work, the limits of what they can do, what they were designed to do, how they are actually used. Just as technologies themselves are becoming more complicated, so are their embeddings and relationships to the larger social, political, and legal contexts in which they exist. Scholars across all disciplines are encouraged to join us in untangling those complexities.

Josephine Wolff is an associate professor of cybersecurity policy at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. Her book You’ll See This Message When It Is Too Late: The Legal and Economic Aftermath of Cybersecurity Breaches was published by MIT Press in 2018.

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Essay on Negative Effects of Technology

Students are often asked to write an essay on Negative Effects of Technology in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Negative Effects of Technology

Introduction.

Technology has brought many benefits, but it also has negative impacts. It affects our daily lives, our relationships, and our mental health.

Impact on Relationships

Physical and mental health.

Excessive use of technology can lead to physical problems like eye strain and obesity. It can also cause mental issues like anxiety and depression.

Privacy Concerns

Technology can invade our privacy. Personal information can be stolen, leading to identity theft and cyberbullying.

250 Words Essay on Negative Effects of Technology

The paradox of progress.

Technological advancement, while a symbol of human progress, has a flip side that often goes unnoticed. This essay aims to shed light on the negative impacts of technology, emphasizing the need for a balanced approach to its usage.

Psychological Impact

The psychological implications of technology are profound. Over-reliance on digital devices can lead to addictive behaviors, often resulting in social isolation and depression. The constant need to stay connected and updated fuels anxiety and stress. Moreover, the virtual reality created by social media platforms can distort self-perception, leading to low self-esteem and body image issues.

Physical Health Consequences

The physical health repercussions of technology are equally concerning. Prolonged screen time can lead to sedentary lifestyles, contributing to obesity and related health issues. Additionally, excessive screen exposure can cause vision problems and disrupt sleep patterns.

Environmental Impact

From an environmental perspective, technology contributes significantly to pollution. Electronic waste is a growing concern, with hazardous materials from discarded devices causing soil and water contamination. Furthermore, the energy consumed by data centers and digital devices contributes to global warming.

The Need for Balance

While technology has revolutionized our lives, it is crucial to strike a balance. We must harness its benefits while mitigating its adverse effects. This requires conscious efforts to limit screen time, promote physical activity, and encourage responsible e-waste disposal. Ultimately, the key lies in using technology as a tool for progress, not a catalyst for decline.

500 Words Essay on Negative Effects of Technology

The paradox of technological advancement, impact on mental health.

The advent of social media platforms and the internet has revolutionized communication, but it has also amplified feelings of isolation and anxiety among users. The constant exposure to idealized, often unrealistic representations of people’s lives can lead to feelings of inadequacy and low self-esteem. Furthermore, the addictive nature of these platforms, designed to keep users engaged for as long as possible, can lead to unhealthy habits and a distorted sense of reality.

Invasion of Privacy

As we become increasingly reliant on digital technology, our personal information is more vulnerable than ever before. Data breaches and identity theft have become commonplace, with cybercriminals exploiting technological vulnerabilities to access sensitive information. Furthermore, the extensive data collection by tech companies raises concerns about user privacy and autonomy. The lack of transparency and control over how personal data is used and shared has led to widespread unease.

The environmental footprint of technology is another pressing concern. The production, use, and disposal of electronic devices contribute significantly to environmental degradation. E-waste, comprising discarded electronic appliances, is a growing problem, with only a fraction being recycled. The extraction of rare earth metals needed for these devices also leads to habitat destruction and pollution.

Job Displacement

In conclusion, while technology has undeniably brought significant benefits, it also presents serious challenges that need to be addressed. It is essential to foster a balanced approach to technology use, promoting its advantages while mitigating its negative impacts. This requires collaborative efforts from individuals, tech companies, and governments to ensure that technology serves as a tool for progress, not a source of harm.

Apart from these, you can look at all the essays by clicking here .

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Listen to the essay, as read by Antero Garcia, associate professor in the Graduate School of Education.

As a professor of education and a former public school teacher, I’ve seen digital tools change lives in schools.

I’ve documented the ways mobile technology like phones can transform student engagement in my own classroom.

I’ve explored how digital tools might network powerful civic learning and dialogue for classrooms across the country – elements of education that are crucial for sustaining our democracy today.

And, like everyone, I’ve witnessed digital technologies make schooling safer in the midst of a global pandemic. Zoom and Google Classroom, for instance, allowed many students to attend classrooms virtually during a period when it was not feasible to meet in person.

So I want to tell you that I think technologies are changing education for the better and that we need to invest more in them – but I just can’t.

Given the substantial amount of scholarly time I’ve invested in documenting the life-changing possibilities of digital technologies, it gives me no pleasure to suggest that these tools might be slowly poisoning us. Despite their purported and transformational value, I’ve been wondering if our investment in educational technology might in fact be making our schools worse.

Let me explain.

When I was a classroom teacher, I loved relying on the latest tools to create impressive and immersive experiences for my students. We would utilize technology to create class films, produce social media profiles for the Janie Crawfords, the Holden Caulfields, and other literary characters we studied, and find playful ways to digitally share our understanding of the ideas we studied in our classrooms.

As a teacher, technology was a way to build on students’ interests in pop culture and the world around them. This was exciting to me.

But I’ve continued to understand that the aspects of technology I loved weren’t actually about technology at all – they were about creating authentic learning experiences with young people. At the heart of these digital explorations were my relationships with students and the trust we built together.

“Part of why I’ve grown so skeptical about this current digital revolution is because of how these tools reshape students’ bodies and their relation to the world around them.”

I do see promise in the suite of digital tools that are available in classrooms today. But my research focus on platforms – digital spaces like Amazon, Netflix, and Google that reshape how users interact in online environments – suggests that when we focus on the trees of individual tools, we ignore the larger forest of social and cognitive challenges.

Most people encounter platforms every day in their online social lives. From the few online retail stores where we buy groceries to the small handful of sites that stream our favorite shows and media content, platforms have narrowed how we use the internet today to a small collection of Silicon Valley behemoths. Our social media activities, too, are limited to one or two sites where we check on the updates, photos, and looped videos of friends and loved ones.

These platforms restrict our online and offline lives to a relatively small number of companies and spaces – we communicate with a finite set of tools and consume a set of media that is often algorithmically suggested. This centralization of internet – a trend decades in the making – makes me very uneasy.

From willfully hiding the negative effects of social media use for vulnerable populations to creating tools that reinforce racial bias, today’s platforms are causing harm and sowing disinformation for young people and adults alike. The deluge of difficult ethical and pedagogical questions around these tools are not being broached in any meaningful way in schools – even adults aren’t sure how to manage their online lives.

You might ask, “What does this have to do with education?” Platforms are also a large part of how modern schools operate. From classroom management software to attendance tracking to the online tools that allowed students to meet safely during the pandemic, platforms guide nearly every student interaction in schools today. But districts are utilizing these tools without considering the wider spectrum of changes that they have incurred alongside them.

Antero Garcia, associate professor of education (Image credit: Courtesy Antero Garcia)

For example, it might seem helpful for a school to use a management tool like Classroom Dojo (a digital platform that can offer parents ways to interact with and receive updates from their family’s teacher) or software that tracks student reading and development like Accelerated Reader for day-to-day needs. However, these tools limit what assessment looks like and penalize students based on flawed interpretations of learning.

Another problem with platforms is that they, by necessity, amass large swaths of data. Myriad forms of educational technology exist – from virtual reality headsets to e-readers to the small sensors on student ID cards that can track when students enter schools. And all of this student data is being funneled out of schools and into the virtual black boxes of company databases.

Part of why I’ve grown so skeptical about this current digital revolution is because of how these tools reshape students’ bodies and their relation to the world around them. Young people are not viewed as complete human beings but as boxes checked for attendance, for meeting academic progress metrics, or for confirming their location within a school building. Nearly every action that students perform in schools – whether it’s logging onto devices, accessing buildings, or sharing content through their private online lives – is noticed and recorded. Children in schools have become disembodied from their minds and their hearts. Thus, one of the greatest and implicit lessons that kids learn in schools today is that they must sacrifice their privacy in order to participate in conventional, civic society.

The pandemic has only made the situation worse. At its beginnings, some schools relied on software to track students’ eye movements, ostensibly ensuring that kids were paying attention to the tasks at hand. Similarly, many schools required students to keep their cameras on during class time for similar purposes. These might be seen as in the best interests of students and their academic growth, but such practices are part of a larger (and usually more invisible) process of normalizing surveillance in the lives of youth today.

I am not suggesting that we completely reject all of the tools at our disposal – but I am urging for more caution. Even the seemingly benign resources we might use in our classrooms today come with tradeoffs. Every Wi-Fi-connected, “smart” device utilized in schools is an investment in time, money, and expertise in technology over teachers and the teaching profession.

Our focus on fixing or saving schools via digital tools assumes that the benefits and convenience that these invisible platforms offer are worth it.

But my ongoing exploration of how platforms reduce students to quantifiable data suggests that we are removing the innovation and imagination of students and teachers in the process.

Antero Garcia is associate professor of education in the Graduate School of Education .

In Their Own Words is a collaboration between the Stanford Public Humanities Initiative  and Stanford University Communications.

If you’re a Stanford faculty member (in any discipline or school) who is interested in writing an essay for this series, please reach out to Natalie Jabbar at [email protected] .

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Negative Effects Of Technology (Essay/Paper Sample)

Table of Contents

Negative effects of technology

Technology utilization in the world is becoming very high with its rapid evolvement resulting in its use in every part of life making it incredible. It has seen numerous systems and appliances relying on them, among them, cell phones use and the internet. However, with its different forms of use and numerous benefits, it continually results in negative impacts in our mental, environmental and physical health.

Use of technology affects health. It does so by first affecting the way of thinking. The increased use of technology such as mobile phones or video games by children and teenagers affects how their brains work. It reduces their attention span on one thing due to continued working with multiple perspectives thus, decreasing their memory abilities. Additionally, the reliance on search engines to find information and constant data flow in 140 characters or less makes them prone to forgetfulness and reducing their attention span.

Secondly, technology affects health through causing obesity. The increased time spend on mobile phones, watching television, using the internet or playing video games results in a lack of physical activities and exercise. Moreover, spending more time watching television also results in increased snacking on unhealthy foods. These aspects lead to obesity. Thirdly, it affects health by emitting chemicals and waves that make one vulnerable to cancer, over extended use of the technology disturbs the sleeping schedule causing poor sleeping habits and causes neck, eyes, and headaches due to increased curving of the body and staring at the gadgets.

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Technology destroys the environment. The industries that manufacture technological products increases emission of numerous waste products to the air, earth, and water. When it is disposed of as runoffs, it contaminates water bodies such as lakes and rivers, while their manufacture emits carbon dioxide emissions and other harmful chemicals to the air that boost climate change. Disposing of their waste in landfills results in soil contamination and killing of vegetation around these environments as well.

Additionally, use of technology destroys the environment by causing the extinction of species. The high consumption of energy attributed to technology results in the disruption of the atmosphere through climate change. Thus, the increased emission of toxic substances to the environment produces harmful chemicals that kill various animals such as the peregrine and the bald eagle. Technology also affects the environment through excess power consumption. The high use of technology at work, home and schools result in increased need for energy to ensure the technologies work non-stop. Thus, it enhances the reliance on its generation that relies on nuclear and fossil fuels that further strains the environment.

The reliance on technology results in isolation. Physical interaction is crucial to human health as it facilitates bonding and creation of relationships. However, with technology use, it creates online social networks that result in constant and quick communications. However, it reduces face-to-face communication, personal contact with others and engagement in social activities with families and friends, leaving one in their world.  Isolation causes strained relationships, loneliness, depression and lack of support systems to enable one efficiently overcome various issues.

Technology use also breeds privacy and security concerns. Continuous use of technology and posting of personal information online makes it possible for everyone to know about one’s life. Criminals can access this information through phishing, virus attacks, and hacking and use it to conduct criminal activities stripping people of security. Moreover, technology makes children prone to sex crimes by sexual predators and bullying through avenues such as texts, emails or hurtful videos as perpetrators can hide behind fake identities.

In conclusion, use of technologies is an essential phenomenon in the world as it provides connectivity, and creates numerous positives that make a better world. However, its use presents severe adverse impacts that threaten the future. Therefore, one has to choose to use it effectively to reap the benefits while avoiding these consequences as well.

Greater Good Science Center • Magazine • In Action • In Education

What Makes Technology Good or Bad for Us?

Everyone’s worried about smartphones. Headlines like “ Have smartphones destroyed a generation? ” and “ Smartphone addiction could be changing your brain ” paint a bleak picture of our smartphone addiction and its long-term consequences. This isn’t a new lament—public opinion at the advent of the newspaper worried that people would forego the stimulating pleasures of early-morning conversation in favor of reading the daily .

Is the story of technology really that bad? Certainly there’s some reason to worry. Smartphone use has been linked to serious issues, such as dwindling attention spans , crippling depression , and even increased incidence of brain cancer . Ultimately, though, the same concern comes up again and again: Smartphones can’t be good for us, because they’re replacing the real human connection of the good old days.

Everyone’s heard how today’s teens just sit together in a room, texting, instead of actually talking to each other. But could those teenagers actually be getting something meaningful and real out of all that texting?

The science of connection

A quick glance at the research on technology-mediated interaction reveals an ambivalent literature. Some studies show that time spent socializing online can decrease loneliness , increase well-being , and help the socially anxious learn how to connect to others. Other studies suggest that time spent socializing online can cause loneliness , decrease well-being , and foster a crippling dependence on technology-mediated interaction to the point that users prefer it to face-to-face conversation.

It’s tempting to say that some of these studies must be right and others wrong, but the body of evidence on both sides is a little too robust to be swept under the rug. Instead, the impact of social technology is more complicated. Sometimes, superficially similar behaviors have fundamentally different consequences. Sometimes online socialization is good for you, sometimes it’s bad, and the devil is entirely in the details.

This isn’t a novel proposition; after all, conflicting results started appearing within the first few studies into the internet’s social implications, back in the 1990s. Many people have suggested that to understand the consequences of online socialization, we need to dig deeper into situational factors and circumstances. But what we still have to do is move beyond recognition of the problem to provide an answer: When, how, and why are some online interactions great, while others are dangerous?

The interpersonal connection behaviors framework

As a scientist of close relationships, I can’t help but see online interactions differently from thinkers in other fields. People build relationships by demonstrating their understanding of each other’s needs and perspectives, a cyclical process that brings them closer together. If I tell you my secrets, and you respond supportively, I’m much more likely to confide in you again—and you, in turn, are much more likely to confide in me.

This means that every time two people talk to each other, an opportunity for relationship growth is unfolding. Many times, that opportunity isn’t taken; we aren’t about to have an in-depth conversation with the barista who asks for our order. But connection is always theoretically possible, and that’s true whether we’re interacting online or face-to-face.

Close relationships are the bread and butter of happiness—and even health. Being socially isolated is a stronger predictor of mortality than is smoking multiple cigarettes a day . If we want to understand the role technology plays in our well-being, we need to start with the role it plays in our relationships.

And it turns out that the kind of technology-mediated interactions that lead to positive outcomes are exactly those that are likely to build stronger relationships. Spending your time online by scheduling interactions with people you see day in and day out seems to pay dividends in increased social integration . Using the internet to compensate for being lonely just makes you lonelier; using the internet to actively seek out connection has the opposite effect .

“The kind of technology-mediated interactions that lead to positive outcomes are exactly those that are likely to build stronger relationships”

On the other hand, technology-mediated interactions that don’t really address our close relationships don’t seem to do us any good—and might, in fact, do us harm. Passively scrolling through your Facebook feed without interacting with people has been linked to decreased well-being and increased depression post-Facebook use.

That kind of passive usage is a good example of “ social snacking .” Like eating junk food, social snacking can temporarily satisfy you, but it’s lacking in nutritional content. Looking at your friends’ posts without ever responding might make you feel more connected to them, but it doesn’t build intimacy.

Passive engagement has a second downside, as well: social comparison . When we compare our messy lived experiences to others’ curated self-presentations, we are likely to suffer from lowered self-esteem , happiness, and well-being. This effect is only exacerbated when we consume people’s digital lives without interacting with them, making it all too easy to miss the less photogenic moments of their lives.

Moving forward

The interpersonal connection behaviors framework doesn’t explain everything that might influence our well-being after spending time on social media. The internet poses plenty of other dangers—for two examples, the sense of wasting time or emotional contagion from negative news. However, a focus on meaningful social interaction can help explain decades of contradictory findings. And even if the framework itself is challenged by future work, its central concept is bound to be upheld: We have to study the details of how people are spending their time online if we want to understand its likely effects.

In the meantime, this framework has some practical implications for those worried about their own online time. If you make sure you’re using social media for genuinely social purposes, with conscious thought about how it can improve your life and your relationships, you’ll be far more likely to enjoy your digital existence.

This article was originally published on the Behavioral Scientist . Read the original article .

About the Author

Jenna Clark

Jenna Clark, Ph.D. , is a senior behavioral researcher at Duke University's Center for Advanced Hindsight, where she works to help people make healthy decisions in spite of themselves. She's also interested in how technology contributes to our well-being through its effect on our close personal relationships.

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Essay on Technology – A Boon or Bane for Students

500+ words essay on technology for students.

In this essay on technology, we are going to discuss what technology is, what are its uses, and also what technology can do? First of all, technology refers to the use of technical and scientific knowledge to create, monitor, and design machinery. Also, technology helps in making other goods that aid mankind.

Essay on Technology – A Boon or Bane?

Experts are debating on this topic for years. Also, the technology covered a long way to make human life easier but the negative aspect of it can’t be ignored. Over the years technological advancement has caused a severe rise in pollution . Also, pollution has become a major cause of many health issues. Besides, it has cut off people from society rather than connecting them. Above all, it has taken away many jobs from the workers class.

Familiarity between Technology and Science

As they are completely different fields but they are interdependent on each other. Also, it is due to science contribution we can create new innovation and build new technological tools. Apart from that, the research conducted in laboratories contributes a lot to the development of technologies. On the other hand, technology extends the agenda of science.

Vital Part of our Life

Regularly evolving technology has become an important part of our lives. Also, newer technologies are taking the market by storm and the people are getting used to them in no time. Above all, technological advancement has led to the growth and development of nations.

Negative Aspect of Technology

Although technology is a good thing, everything has two sides. Technology also has two sides one is good and the other is bad. Here are some negative aspects of technology that we are going to discuss.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

With new technology the industrialization increases which give birth to many pollutions like air, water, soil, and noise. Also, they cause many health-related issues in animals, birds, and human beings.

Exhaustion of Natural Resources

New technology requires new resources for which the balance is disturbed. Eventually, this will lead to over-exploitation of natural resources which ultimately disturbs the balance of nature.

Unemployment

A single machine can replace many workers. Also, machines can do work at a constant pace for several hours or days without stopping. Due to this, many workers lost their job which ultimately increases unemployment .

Types of Technology

Generally, we judge technology on the same scale but in reality, technology is divided into various types. This includes information technology, industrial technology , architectural technology, creative technology and many more. Let’s discuss these technologies in brief.

Industrial Technology

This technology organizes engineering and manufacturing technology for the manufacturing of machines. Also, this makes the production process easier and convenient.

Creative Technology

This process includes art, advertising, and product design which are made with the help of software. Also, it comprises of 3D printers , virtual reality, computer graphics, and other wearable technologies.

Information Technology

This technology involves the use of telecommunication and computer to send, receive and store information. Internet is the best example of Information technology.

FAQs on Essay on Technology

Q.1 What is Information technology?

A –  It is a form of technology that uses telecommunication and computer systems for study. Also, they send, retrieve, and store data.

Q.2 Is technology harmful to humans?

 A – No, technology is not harmful to human beings until it is used properly. But, misuses of technology can be harmful and deadly.

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The Impact of Technology on Education: Positive and Negative Effects

Technology has graced our learning institutions for centuries now. Right from the use of radios to incorporation of modern computers, our classrooms will never be the same. Assignments that took hours to grind have been reduced to minutes using edtech such as laptops, spreadsheets, online calculators, integrated apps, etc. Access to learning materials have also improved significantly as colleges embrace cloud storage. Not to mention that lecturers can now deliver lectures from anywhere in the world, reducing geographic limitations. 

While this should be good news to educators and learners, it comes with some drawbacks. In fact, stakeholders in the education sector have remained firmly embroiled in heated debates about the effects of technology on education . Whereas it’s hard to determine the side with more credible arguments, it’s undeniable that edtech has changed the way knowledge is imparted and acquired. And with such massive changes come both positives and negatives. In this short article, we’ll explore the impact of technology on education, covering both the positive and negative outcomes. Read on to learn more.

Impact of Technology on Education: The Digital Divide  

Edtech has done better than bad to our education system. In fact, some people firmly believe that the challenges we’re facing with it today are just bad teething problems. Yet, it’s undeniable that it has magnified the digital divide, exacerbating existing inequalities. This is a major problem in a world where the top one percent own more than 60 percent of the global population combined. So, only a select few fully benefit from edtech. Disparities are based on learners’ socioeconomic background, geographic location, and access to technology. This is worth noting, as it hinders some students’ academic progress and future opportunities. It’s a cruel reality, an impact of technology on education that many fear confronting.  

The Positive Effects of Technology on Education

Even if you’re against edtech, you must, at the very least, acknowledge the positive impact it has had on our education system. There’s just so much to talk about. However, we’ve listed the main advantages below:

Enhanced information access

Some of us started schooling when textbooks were the only access to information. Even so, they were quite rare and only children from privileged families had them. We spent weekends at neighboring estates, sharing a few copies to complete assignments. In fact, some students walked several kilometers to find copies of textbooks. In other cases, we had to stay back at school until quite late, copying the assignments. Colleges filled their libraries with old, irrelevant books, forcing students to fight for the few relevant ones. It was never easy. Then came technology. With just a few clicks, students can now explore a wide range of resources, such as online libraries, journals, educational websites, and multimedia content from any location on earth. All you need is an internet connection and an access device. How cooler can it get!

Improved collaboration 

Collaboration is critical to learning, which explains why most curricula have incorporated activities and exercises for it. Unfortunately, it has never been easy in traditional learning setups. The limited time in school and the many subjects to cover hindered teachers from instituting adequate collaborative activities. The pressure reduced most educators into syllabus covering machines. 

One of the positive effects of technology on education today is that it has changed things for the better. It has expanded the breadth and width of collaboration among stakeholders, i.e., students, teachers, guardians, and parents. They can instantly and seamlessly connect with each other via online platforms, video conferencing tools, and educational apps. You’re no longer alone when stuck with a difficult assignment because you easily reach your tutors, lecturers, and instructors to explain things out. If no one is available, you can collaborate with an expert team of essay writers at CustomWritings that professionally help students with academic writing issues online.

Personalized learning

Have you had the honor of watching the film Slumdog Millionaire 2008 ? If you haven’t, you’re certainly missing out. A masterpiece. A marvelous work of art and entertainment that highlights the struggles of many people who schooled a few decades ago. Forget about India’s high population and poor living standards, most students of the early 1980s confronted crowded and poorly ventilated classes. Teachers never delivered education to suit each student. Instead, they expected each learner to fit, a one system fits all approach. Thanks to edtech, things have gotten better. Adaptive learning software has allowed personalized learning experiences tailored to individual student needs. A slow learner can go at their own pace as they receive customized learning paths and immediate feedback.    

Improved learning experiences for all

Malik Jamal thrived in the crowded Mumbai classrooms, but others didn’t. Well, we were referring to the film Slumdog Millionaire, again! Many kids struggled. While the case may seem extreme for the US and other western nations, especially in this age, it shows just how our experiences in the classroom can differ. This is especially true for people with disabilities and mental illnesses. Edtech has improved not only their access to education but also learning experiences. Assistive technologies , such as screen readers, speech recognition software, and tactile interfaces, have enabled such students to participate fully in educational activities.

Improved classroom engagement

Can you imagine keeping young learners in a crowded classroom engaged for just one hour? It’s almost impossible, right? Now, that’s what some teachers confront every day! With few teaching aids, making students engaged is a complete nightmare. This is where technology comes in. Most teachers have stopped relying solely on traditional teaching methods and integrated edtech such as multimedia presentations, virtual reality simulations, video games, interactive puzzle games and quizzes to make learning more enjoyable. As a result, some studies have reported increased motivation and deeper understanding and retention of concepts. A win -win situation.

The Negative Effects of Technology on Education

Now that we’ve discussed the pros, it’s time to explore the negative effects of technology on education. There’s always a downside to any tech. Below are a few ones derailing the education sector:

Distraction

The presence of tech devices such as laptops, smartphones, tablets, and computers in the classroom can derail some students. Not all learners are equal or the same. So, you’ll always find the ones hooked to social media and online games rather than classwork. They’d rather chat than write their essays.

Erosion of social skills

As we go increasingly online, we limit opportunities for face-to-face interaction. This is the case with edtech. Students are finding it easier and more comfortable chatting online than having face-to-face conversations, which undermines interpersonal skills development. If you can’t communicate well in person, you’re heading in the wrong direction.

Information overload

The internet has opened the door to a whole new world of information that’s hard to process and verify. Even fools can open websites, blogs, and social media pages where they share misinformation. These can be exceedingly difficult for students to discern, leading to confusion and potentially inaccurate learning.

Health implications

Well, too much of anything is dangerous. Having technology in class could lead students into dependency, using their gadgets in all other aspects of life. The consequences could be far-reaching. For instance, studies have linked excessive screen time and poor ergonomic practices to various health implications, including eye strain, musculoskeletal problems, and sedentary behavior.

Academic dishonesty

This is the elephant in the room right now. New technological inventions, especially AI, have had a significant negative impact on academic honesty. Most students no longer do their research. Instead, they rely on ChatGPT, Textero, and other language-based techs to write their papers. This has proven quite problematic for educators.

The Future is EdTech but with a Lease!

Technology has undoubtedly revolutionized our education system for the better. Our children have avoided some many troubles and we were confronted with very little benefits. Edtech is here and it’s going nowhere. We should embrace it and enjoy its benefits. At the same time, we should have measures to minimize, if not eliminate, its disadvantages. As it is said, where there is a will, there is a way. 

The content published on this website is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, health or other professional advice.

• Academic Collaboration
• Digital Divide
• Negative Effects of Technology
• Online Learning
• Positive Effects of Technology
• Technology in Education

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The Negative Impact of Technology on People

How it works

The article is by Chad A. Krueger from AAOS Now. The author explains the issues of technology and its problems when it comes to learning and education. While one can understand the distractions of a smartphone, this article brings into attention what the problems are that technology is not making humans smarter, can only causes distractions in the classroom and also outside classrooms when you are still trying to engage in learning. I intend to use this source because of how much I know that smartphones affect people’s lives now and possibly would contain information on how technology is making people dumber.

Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Accessed 4 Oct. 2018. This article was published in Public Library of Science by Plos ONE. The author of this article, Amanda Gamble a Marketing Consultant study focused on how technology affects users sleep pattern. It is important to keep away from device lighting screens that may keep us stay late and mess our sleep cycle. It is also explained what type of things can be affected and the causes of sleep loss, and how it can be associated with heart attacks, obesity and high blood pressure. People are increasingly difficult to get them to go to bed on time because technology make it harder to drop off to sleep. I use this source in my research because the article provided me with a good information of technology’s impact on sleep.

The article is by David Scott from International Journal of Mental Health & Addiction. The study focused particularly on society’s use of technology such as the Internet, smartphones, and other devices and its apparent effects on people’s mental health. The authors discuss the technology used have changed our every way of how we communicate and socialize with friend and family. I intend to use this source because this article explains the more harmful side of technology and negative effects it has on people today.

The author of this article, Maddy French is a writer for the Daily Universe of the Brigham Young University. In this article she analyzes the negative social effects of technology on children. The authors discuss the negative consequences are need for stress from staring at the screen of technological devices, instant gratification, and risk of depression. I used this source in my research because is interesting information or helpful for my essay. 

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Impacts of technology on children’s health: a systematic review

Impactos da tecnologia na saúde infantil: revisão sistemática, raquel cordeiro ricci.

a Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, Três Lagoas, MS, Brazil.

Aline Souza Costa de Paulo

Alisson kelvin pereira borges de freitas, isabela crispim ribeiro, leonardo siqueira aprile pires, maria eduarda leite facina, milla bitencourt cabral, natália varreira parduci, rafaela caldato spegiorin, sannye sabrina gonzález bogado, sergio chociay, junior, talita navarro carachesti, mônica mussolini larroque.

The authors declare no conflict of interests.

Authors’ contribution

To identify the consequences of technology overuse in childhood.

Data source:

A systematic review was carried out in the electronic databases PubMed (National Library of Medicine of the National Institutes of Health) and BVS (Virtual Health Library), considering articles published from 2015 to 2020, in English, Portuguese and Spanish using the terms “Internet”, “Child” and “Growth and Development”.

Data synthesis:

554 articles were found and 8 were included in the analysis. The studies’ methodological quality was assessed by the Strobe and Consort criteria, being scored from 17 to 22 points. The articles showed positive and negative factors associated with the use of technology in childhood, although most texts emphasize the harmful aspects. Excessive use of internet, games and exposure to television are associated with intellectual deficits and mental health issues, but can also enable psychosocial development.

Conclusions:

Preventing the use of the internet is a utopic measure ever since society makes use of technologies. The internet is associated with benefits as well as with harms. It is important to optimize the use of internet and reduce risks with the participation of parents and caregivers as moderators, and training of health professionals to better guide them.

Identificar as consequências do uso excessivo da tecnologia na infância.

Fontes de dados:

Foi realizada uma revisão sistemática nas bases de dados eletrônicas PubMed (National Library of Medicine — National Institutes of Health) e Biblioteca Virtual em Saúde (BVS) com artigos publicados de 2015 a 2020, em inglês, português e espanhol, utilizando os termos internet, child e growth and development .

Síntese dos dados:

Foram localizados 554 artigos, resultando em oito artigos incluídos nesta pesquisa. Os estudos foram avaliados quanto à sua qualidade metodológica pelos critérios Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (Strobe) e Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (Consort) e receberam pontuações que variaram de 17 a 22 pontos. Os artigos evidenciaram que há fatores positivos e negativos associados ao uso de tecnologias na infância, embora a maioria dos textos ressalte seu aspecto prejudicial. O uso excessivo de internet, jogos e exposição à televisão ocasionaram alterações intelectuais e da saúde mental, porém também possibilitaram o desenvolvimento psicossocial.

Conclusões:

Impedir o uso da internet é uma medida utópica, visto que a sociedade faz uso de tecnologias. Considerando que a internet pode trazer benefícios, mas também malefícios, são importantes a otimização do uso e a redução dos riscos, como a participação dos pais e responsáveis como moderadores dessa utilização, além da atualização dos profissionais da saúde para melhor orientá-los.

INTRODUCTION

Nowadays, information and communication technologies increasingly make up children’s daily routines. Data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) state that, among Brazilian children aged 10 years and over, internet use rose from 69.8% in 2017 to 74.7% in 2018. Exchange of messages, voice and/or video calls and, finally, watching videos, such as series and movies, are the most frequent activities performed requiring internet services. 1

Studies on digital technologies have been carried out in several fields, since the contents of activities on the internet may vary, reflecting the broad range of information available online. From this perspective, much has been questioned about the impacts of information and communication technologies on children’s physical and psychosocial development. In the cognitive sphere, the influence on sleep, memory, reading ability, concentration, the ability to communicate in person are commonly cited, in addition to anxiety symptoms when children are away from their cell phones. 2 , 3

This construction of self-image by means of technological tools results in potentializing a phenomenon of modernity and the emergence of large cities: placing intimacy as the focus of spectacularization. Furthermore, intense consumption of content can cause anxiety, panic and even depression. In the case of children with previous mental health conditions and who require monitoring, these effects can be even more intense. 4

With this in mind, the World Health Organization (WHO) published a series of recommendations to parents regarding the exposure of children of different age groups to digital technologies. Children under the age of 5 should not spend more than 60 minutes a day in passive activities in front of a smartphone, computer or TV screen. Children under 12 months of age should not spend even a minute in front of electronic devices. The goal is for boys and girls up to 5 years old to change electronics for physical activities or practices that involve interactions in the real world, such as reading and listening to stories with caregivers. 5 These guidelines are part of the strategy for awareness on sedentary lifestyle and obesity by the Organization of United Nations (UN).

Thus, it is clear that this spectrum of influence can culminate or intensify various pathologies. Therefore, the aim of the study was to identify the positive and negative consequences of technology overuse in childhood.

The selection process and the development of this systematic review were based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (Prisma) protocol. 6 This review was registered with the International Prospective Registry of Systematic Reviews (Prospero), under number CRD42021248396.

The National Library of Medicine — National Institutes of Health (PubMed) and Virtual Health Library (VHL) electronic databases were searched from March to July 2020. The purpose was to systematically analyze original studies addressing information technologies and communication (Internet, social media, etc.) in child development based on a guiding question: what is the impact of information and communication technologies on childrens physical and psychosocial development?

The Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) was used to define the search term. Then, an exploratory investigation was carried out with the purpose of identifying keywords within the theme. The terms “internet”, “child” and “growth and development” were used, in English language, along with “AND”, to combine them. Additionally, the bibliographic references of articles selected were checked.

For the articles to be included, the following aspects were considered:

• Original articles.
• Studies conducted with children.
• Research regarding information and communication technologies (Internet, television, etc.) related to child development.
• Published from 2015 to 2020.
• Articles written in English, Portuguese and Spanish.

Studies carried out with adolescents, adults and the elderly, as well as theses, dissertations, monographs, duplicate studies and case studies were excluded.

The search and selection of articles took place at two different times. The articles were selected first by title and abstracts and, then, the full texts were accessed and evaluated.

Studies that met the eligibility criteria were fully analyzed by two independent researchers, whose evaluations were then compared to verify common points. In cases of uncertainty about the eligibility of the study, a third evaluator took part. Then, the data was extracted and input in predefined data tables.

The methodological quality of observational articles included was assessed according to the initiative Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (Strobe), based on various evaluation criteria for this type of studies. The maximum score is 22 points, which are distributed over several items: title and/or abstract (one item), introduction (two items), methodology (nine items), results (five items), discussion (four items), and funding (one item). 7 , 8 All observational studies were evaluated, and each item, when present, added up to 1 point; then the sum was scored according to Table 1 .

The methodological quality of the one randomized trial was based on the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (Consort) strategy, which contains a checklist with 25 items, divided into: title and abstract (one item with two sub-items); introduction (one item with two sub-items); methods (five items) and a topic with information about randomization (five items); results (seven items); discussion (three items); and other information, such as registration, protocols and funding (three items). 9 , 10 Each item, if met, equals 1 point, and they were all added up according to the analysis of the papers. The score of methodological quality of this randomized trial is shown in Table 1 .

In order to synthesize the description of characteristics as main results and descriptive approach, the following information was extracted from each selected article: name of the main author, year of publication, country where the study was performed, design, sample size, type of technology evaluated, statistical variables, main results, and limitations.

Searches on PubMed and VHL using the descriptors “internet”, “child” and “growth and development” retrieved 550 articles. After applying inclusion criteria, 221 studies were selected and, after reading the titles and abstracts, 125 were excluded. 92 articles were read in full and, per the inclusion criteria and a detailed analysis, four studies were selected. Four other articles were included after an additional search in the reference list of primarily selected articles; the studies should have the same inclusion criteria defined in the methodology. Thus, eight articles made up the sample. The flowchart is shown in Figure 1 .

Most studies were epidemiological. Almost all of them were observational (n=7), and only one was an intervention study. The observational studies included were longitudinal and/or cross-sectional (n=5), case-control (n=1) and cohort studies (n=1). Only one experimental study was included, a randomized controlled trial (n=1), as shown in Table 1 .

Their methodological quality was based on their scores ( Table 1 ). Most studies were observational (n=7) and, therefore, were evaluated according to the Strobe criteria 7 . The score ranged from 17 to 22, and most articles reached 20 points (n=4), which is good methodological quality. The quality of the randomized trial with 18 points—according to the Consort 2010 criterion, which has a maximum score of 25—was also considered good. 9

The main results about the implications of technology in childhood are detailed in Tables 2 and ​ and3 3 .

After reading and analysis, the articles were classified and distributed into two categories according to their approach: negative aspects (n=6) and positive aspects (n=2). The review results are reported below.

Negative aspects

Six of the studies linked technologies to negative aspects. The papers highlitghed intellectual complications, 3 , 11 , 12 body image dissatisfaction 13 , 14 and encouragement of unhealthy food consumption. 15 Table 2 shows the main information.

Excessive internet use is transversally associated with lower cognitive functioning and reduced volume of several areas of the brain. In longitudinal analyses, a higher frequency of internet use was associated with a decrease in verbal intelligence and a smaller increase in the regional volume of gray/white matter in several brain areas after a few years. These areas relate to language processing, attention and executive functions, emotion and reward. 3

In a study conducted with 80 British girls aged 8 and 9 years, appearance-focused games led participants to have a greater dissatisfaction with their appearance compared to control girls, who were not exposed to such games. Therefore, internet games that address appearance can be harmful to girls’ body self-image. 13

It’s not just appearance-focused games that have a negative impact on body image. TV shows, depending on the approach, can also impact negatively psychological development. In a study with Australian girls, some TV shows aimed for the age group of 6-9 years focused on sexualization were absorbed or internalized as social messages by children. The authors stated that the exposure made these girls whish to wear sexualized clothes and create negative relationship with their body image. 14

Furthermore, a study with 562 Dutch and Spanish children reported that, among Dutch children, games with advertisements (advergames) for high-calorie foods stimulated the consumption of unhealthy foods, while those who played other games with advertisements other that food-related, were less inclined to this eating habit. 15 Thus, depending on what the child is exposed to, some influences may not be beneficial.

Video games were associated with increased mean diffusivity in cortical and subcortical areas. That is, prolonged video game use was associated with negative consequences, as it can directly or indirectly interrupt the development of neural systems and cause unfavorable neurocognitive development, especially when it comes to verbal intelligence. 11

Another study on children’s exposure to television, identified a negative effect on the gray matter of the frontal area of the brain with consequences for verbal language. No changes were identified in sensorimotor areas as related to TV watching time; the effect may not be direct, since watching this media is often associated with less physical activity, which, in turn, causes changes in the volume of gray matter in sensorimotor areas. 12

Positive aspects

Only two studies brought the positive aspects of technology use, related to cognitive and psychosocial development 16 and forms of interpersonal relationships. 17 Main information is shown in Table 3 .

Associations of electronic media use with psychosocial development and the executive function among 3- and 5-year-olds, particularly related to total screen time, TV shows viewing, and application use were assessed by the authors, who concluded that cognitive and psychosocial development in children 12 months later was positive when exposure to these media lasted less than 30 minutes a day. 16

In a study conducted with 2,840 students in South Korea, children with depressed mood were more likely to use the internet to socialize, exchange ideas and talk about their concerns as a way to meet their friendship needs. The Internet can be beneficial for children, who can take advantage of online opportunities for socialization and friendships based on common interests. 17

The studies analyzed, in general, show that children currently spend a significant amount of time on the Internet or other means of information, and consider that this exposure can have positive and negative impacts on children’s cognitive development and learning skills.

As for the negative impacts of this habit in childhood, the higher frequency of internet use is associated with a significant decrease in verbal intelligence, mainly related to language skills and concentration/attention abilities. One study reported frequent internet use by children as related to decreased memory performance. 18

Another issue that must be taken into account is the number of games emerging all the time with new elements of fun and entertainment to attract children. An alert should be raised, however, about destructive websites such as the Blue Whale Challenge, which target vulnerable children and young people, threaten their physical integrity and are completely unethical, leading to the gradual destruction of society. 19

On the other hand, researchers have identified, among the most frequent purposes in allowing children access technology declared by parents, the promotion of problem-solving skills (56.7%), learning of basic mathematics (53.8%), developing hand-eye coordination (46.2%), introduction to reading (51%), language (47.1%) and science (26%), as well as entertainment (56.7%). 20

Based on the studies selected, we point out an unexpected result for parents: the problematic use of electronic devices at an early age can have children show low levels of openness to experiences, increasing the level of emotional instability, impulsive or other behaviors related to attention. Then, we must reinforce that exposure to media must be carefully pondered by parents and guardians as to avoid media dependence and misuse.

Problematic internet use (PIU) is associated with less openness and agreeableness, as children with higher levels of PIU end up with a deficit in social skills and difficulties in establishing interpersonal relationships, which can lead to being less open and visible, or less friendly externally. It was also found that these children tend to experience negative emotions and use the internet as a means of feeling better about their everyday problems or unpleasant feelings. Relationships were also between problematic video game use and behavior problems, specifically related to thoughts, attention, and aggressive behavior. 21

In order to bypass the negative effects of inappropriate use of the internet, one cannot ignore, on the one hand, the positive side of these technologies. Technology is extensively available and it is almost impossible to remove it from children’s daily lives. 22 But the negative effects mentioned during the discussion deserve the same attention, as the authors place parental control and moderation as key factors. 23 In this sense, there is a directly proportional link between parental participation and attention and a less harmful relationship between children and technologies, especially regarding social factors. 24

Currently, children spend their lives immersed in the world of digital media, and research has consistently shown the growing, early and diversified use of this media. Children exposed to electronics tend to develop a desire for continued use, creating a potentially harmful cycle. Even more worrisome are the effects of digital media on young children by disrupting parent-child interaction, which is critical to a healthy emotional and cognitive development. 25

There are potential benefits of digital technology as a tool to enhance early childhood development, creativity and social connection, but it is imperative that parents monitor what their children are consuming and help them learn from it. 26

A review of the literature about media reported an adverse association between screen-based media consumption and sleep health, mainly due to delays in bedtime and reduced total sleep duration. The underlying mechanisms of these associations include:

• Time replacement, that is, time on screens replacing sleep time and time spent other activities.
• Psychological stimulation based on media content.
• Effects of light emitted by devices on circadian timing, sleep physiology, and alertness. 27

There is, therefore, and evident need to identify the warning signs of excessive technology use in this age group and define the appropriate limit of daily screen time. Children can make a balanced use of technologies, taking advantage of them without exaggeration, favoring communication and the search for information that is relevant to learning.

It is important to emphasize that pre-judgments about technology-dependent children should be avoided, and knowing their feelings about themselves, as well as the factors that bother them, is important, as well as having a sensitive listening to form a vision of ideal approach in this condition of technology dependence by means of suggested strategies to effectively face these difficulties. 28

Although this review has important and interesting results, some limitations must be listed. First, there the number of studies identified with the criteria of our work was limited. Also, most of the studies were observational. Therefore, experimental research must be carried out as a means to understand the cause-consequence dynamics between media and their implications for child development. Further studies with larger samples and specific age groups, which would be relevant to increase statistical power, are needed.

The analysis of the articles showed positive and negative factors associated with the use of technologies by children. The main losses caused by technology use in childhood are excessive time connected to the internet, worsening of mental health, and changes in the circadian rhythm. The articles mentioned as negative factors the development of intellectual impairments, including verbal intelligence and attention, emotional instability, internet addiction, binge eating and physiological changes.

The main benefits of the use of technologies by children found were the strengthening of friendships and the possibility of greater social connection. For the preschool age group, there is evidence of improvement in cognitive and psychosocial development. Thus, in order to have technology as an ally for healthy child development, parents and guardians should limit the time of use and control the type of content seen and shared by children.

Currently, preventing internet use is an unrealistic measure, since parents and guardians also make great use of technologies. However, because of the new settings imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, many services have moved towards digitization, including education and social interaction. Internet use nowadays is a reality for all age groups and makes this study relevant; measures aimed at optimizing its use and reducing risks must, therefore, be adopted. Once again, we emphasize the importance of parents and guardians as moderators and update training of health professionals to better guide them.

Further studies are suggested so the notion of risk-benefit of internet use and its long-term consequences for child development is kept up to date.

The study did not receive any funding.

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• How Does Social Media Affect Teens?

How does social media affect teenagers? Like any form of technology, social media has both an upside and a downside. And when it comes to the social media effects on teens, there are significant pros and cons to take into account. On the plus side, platforms like TikTok, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat can be lifesavers for teens who feel isolated or marginalized, particularly LGBTQ teens.

However, the impact of social media on youth can be significantly detrimental to mental health. Social media use exposes teens to cyberbullying, body image issues, and tech addiction, and results in less time spent doing healthy, real-world activities. Moreover, the addictive qualities of social media can prime the brain for addiction to substances.

Key Takeaways

• The impact of social media on youth can be significantly detrimental to mental health, exposing teens to cyberbullying, body image issues, and tech addiction.
• Some researchers theorize that the increase in social media and overall screen use between 2010 and 2015 could account for marked increases in teen depressive symptoms and suicide rates beginning in that same time period.
• Many experts believe that the constant overstimulation of social networking shifts the nervous system into fight-or-flight mode, exacerbating disorders such as ADHD, anxiety, depression, and oppositional defiant disorder.
• Mental health treatment can help teens gain the skills and self-knowledge to heal from the underlying causes and negative consequences associated with social media overuse.

The Effect of Social Media on Teenager s’ Mental Health

Are teens and social media platforms a good mix, or does social media use lower teen well-being? Why is social media bad? This has become one of the more controversial questions regarding social media’s effects on teens, with studies showing varied results.

Positive Effects of Social Media on Teenagers

According to a report released by Common Sense Media on social media’s effects on teens, about half of the 1,500 young people surveyed said social media experiences are very important for them in order to get support and advice, feel less alone, and express their creative side, as well as for staying in touch with friends and family members. And 43 percent said that using social media makes them feel better when they are depressed, stressed, or anxious. Among LGBTQ youth, 52 percent said social media helps them feel better when they are experiencing these difficult emotions.

Negative Effects of Social Media on Teens

On the other hand, the report also showed a strong association between social media and teens feeling depressed. Youth with moderate to severe depressive symptoms were nearly twice as likely to say they used social media almost constantly: One-third of teens with depression reported constant social media use, as compared to 18 percent of young people who did not have depressive symptoms.

Furthermore, the more severe their symptoms were, the more anxious, lonely and depressed they felt after using social media. And another study found that teens who spend more than three hours or more on social media daily have an increased risk of self-harm . Clearly, social media does not help teens who are already feeling depressed and seems to contribute to their negative outlook.

Why Social Media Can Be Bad for Mental Health

Is social media part of the reason that teen depression has drastically increased over the last decade? Surveys of US adolescents show that teen depressive symptoms and suicide rates  showed marked increases between 2010 and 2015 , especially among females.

Some researchers theorize that the increase in social media and overall screen use between those years could account for these changes. The adolescents surveyed who spent more time on social media sites were more likely to report mental health issues. Those who spent more time on real-life activities, such as in-person social interaction, sports, exercise, homework, and print media, were less likely to report these issues.

Research on Social Media and Teen Depression

Over the last decade, this theory has been borne out by a large body of  research  linking teenagers’ use of social media with increased  teen depression . These studies show that the frequency of a teen’s use of social media has a clear correlation to their mental health.

For example, in a  20 18 study , 14- to 17-year-olds whose social media usage exceeded seven hours per day were more than twice as likely to have been diagnosed with depression, treated by a mental health professional, or taken medication for a psychological or behavioral issue during the last year. This was compared to teen users who were on screens only about an hour a day.

Many experts believe that the constant overstimulation of social networking shifts the nervous system into fight-or-flight mode. As a result, this makes disorders such as ADHD, teen depression, oppositional defiant disorder, and  teen anxiety  worse. However, some research on social media and teen depression shows that the causality goes the other way—i.e., when teens are depressed, they look at social media more often. In one  study  of 600 young people, researchers found that social media use did not predict depressive symptoms, but greater depressive symptoms predicted more social media use over time.

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The Top 3 Psychological Effects of Social Media on Youth

A study by researchers at University College London tracked three years of social media use by 13,000 teenagers, starting when they were 13. The teens also self-reported about their social media experiences and their mood and well-being.

After compiling the data, the study authors concluded that the social media effect on today’s youth is driven by three primary factors:

• Inadequate sleep —teens stayed up late to continue scrolling through their social media feeds
• Exposure to  cyberbullying —having harmful, false, or private content about them posted on social media
• Lack of physical activity —scrolling social media on their phones or other devices meant that teens sat for longer periods of time and had less time for exercise. As a result, they missed out on the  beneficial impact of exercise on mental health .

According to the study, which was  published in the journal  Lancet , 27 percent of the teens who frequently used social media reported high psychological stress. For teens who used social media less frequently, only 17 percent reported high  psychological stress .

“Some experts argue that young people’s use of social media is adding to their depression; others that their depression leaves them so uninterested in other activities that they turn to social media by default. [Our] research suggests a third possibility: that many young people who are experiencing depression— whatever the cause—are purposely and proactively using social media and other digital tools to protect and promote their own well-being.” — Common Sense Media report

The Impact of Social Media on Youth Social Comparison

One way in which social media impacts teen mental health is through negative social comparison—what media psychologist Don Grant, PhD, Newport Director of Outpatient Services, calls “compare and despair.” Teenagers on social media spend much of their time observing the lives and images of their peers. This leads to constant comparisons, which can damage self-esteem and body image,  exacerbating depression  and anxiety among adolescents.

As with other types of social comparison, teens report lower self-esteem and self-evaluation and peer pressure to look a certain way when looking at their friends on social media apps. For example, this includes looking at profiles on which peers post curated images about their significant others, social events, or accomplishments. And young people felt better about themselves when they make so-called “downward comparisons” —looking at profiles of peers with fewer friends and achievements. According to  a Pew Research Center report  on the negative effects of social media on teenagers, 26 percent of teens say these sites make them feel worse about their own life.

Read “Teen Mental Health and the Theory of Social Comparison.”

The Negative Psychological Effects of Social Media on Teen Body Image

Body image is one primary area in which teen social comparison leads to negative emotions—not only for teen girls, but for all genders. When teens compare themselves to curated and filtered photographs of their peers and of celebrities, they often feel inferior. This can lead to lower self-esteem and negative body image. In addition, social media use has also been linked to  a higher risk of eating disorders and disordered eating behaviors in both girls and boys.

According to a survey by Common Sense Media:

• 35 percent of teenagers on social media worry about being tagging in unattractive photos
• 27 percent are stressed out about how they look when they post pictures
• 22 percent feel bad about themselves when nobody comments on or “likes” their photos.

Social Media Effects on Teens: Health Hazard or Healthy Inspiration?

During the teenage years, young people are particularly susceptible to the influence of peers. Therefore, they are more vulnerable to negative influences on social media. Unfortunately, along with providing ways to seek help and support, social media also provides forums in which teens can encourage each other in unhealthy and dangerous behaviors.

For example, teens with eating disorders or those who self-harm can connect with others to talk about their self-destructive routines. In these online forums, obsessive calorie counting, fasting, or over-exercising are accepted and encouraged. As a result, young people may learn ways to hide or intensify the behavior, putting them at greater risk. And while the majority of parents believe they know what their child is posting on social media, according to a Pew Research poll, a survey of teens found that  70 percent  of them are hiding their online behavior from their parents.

On the flip side, a teen social network can inspire teenagers to develop healthy habits. Thus, seeing peers eating nutritious food, doing something creative, or getting outside in nature can encourage other teens to do the same. Social networks can create peer motivation, inspiring young people to try something new, follow their dreams, and speak up about things that matter to them. Teens can also find  positive role models  online. Hence, the effect of social media on teenagers might actually result in more unplugged time and increased self-care behaviors.

The Negative Effects of Social Media on Teens’ Identity Formation

The impact of social media on youth extends to an important part of adolescent development: the formation of one’s unique identity. Hence, social media provides a forum for teens to practice skills related to identity development. These include self-presentation and self-disclosure—sharing their opinions, beliefs, and preferences.

In a longitudinal survey of 219 freshmen at a state university, researchers found that teens who expressed their opinions on social media experienced increased well-being. In addition, another study found that adolescents who communicated more online had greater “self-concept clarity”—a clearer idea of who they were. This self-awareness supports mental health. Furthermore, a  research article on teens and social media  concluded that social media gives teens the “autonomy to explore and experiment with their identities in a space of their own, where they have control over what, how, and with whom they share information.”

Friendships, Teens, and Social Media

Friendship and social skills are additional areas in which the impact of social media on youth can be positive  and negative. In the Pew Research Center report, 81 percent of teens in the survey said social media makes them feel more connected to what’s going on in their friends’ lives. In addition, two-thirds of teens said these platforms make them feel as if they have people who will support them through tough times.

During the pandemic, of course, social media became one of the most frequent—and sometimes the only—way in which teens could stay connected with peers. But there’s a difference between teens’ social media friends vs. their real friends: The Pew survey found that 60 percent of teens say they spend time with their friends online on a daily or nearly daily basis, but only 24 percent spent time with their friends that often in person. These stats highlight how online connections may not translate into IRL relationships.

In addition, the more time teens spend plugged in and on social media platforms, the more  cyberbullying  increases. A 2020 report by the organization L1ght found a  70 percent uptick  in hate speech among kids and teens across communication channels on social media and popular chat forums. More time on social media provides enhanced access to both the beneficial and detrimental aspects, further driving the negative effects of social media on teenagers.

The Addictive Quality of Social Media for Teens

Scientists have found that teen social media overuse creates a stimulation pattern similar to the pattern created by other addictive behaviors . Hence, the brain responds to social media the same way it responds to other “rewards”— with a release of dopamine. These dopamine rushes are catalyzed when a teen posts something online and is met with likes, shares, and positive comments from their peers.

According to the American Psychological Association, the teen brain is wired to be “especially invested in behaviors that will help them get personalized feedback, praise, or attention from peers … Youth are especially sensitive to both positive social feedback and rejection from others.” They’re also less capable of controlling the impulse to keep scrolling, because the areas of the teen brain that control self-regulation are still immature.

Don Grant, PhD, Newport’s National Advisor of Healthy Device Management, says social media use targets our limbic system through its susceptibility to intermittent variable rewards. It’s the same basic idea behind slot machine design—looking for “likes” gets us “hooked” and coming back from more. Our brains keep seeking the dopamine hit that comes with the next post we see on our feed or the next reaction to something we’ve posted. Research also suggests that these rituals may prime the brain for other future unhealthy dependencies or addictions, Dr. Grant says.

Treatment for Teen Social Media Addiction and Its Root Causes

As the research shows, teen social media overuse is often linked with underlying issues, such as depression, chronic stress, anxiety, or low self-esteem. Hence, treatment at Newport Academy includes addressing these root causes while unplugging from phones and social media.

After just a few days, teens begin to reawaken to their IRL environment. During treatment with us, they form strong friendships, explore their inner life through journaling and meditation, spend time in nature, and experience creative offline activities. Our treatment outcomes show that this approach supports healing and reconnection with self, others, and their real-life environment. Newport’s clinical team specializes in helping teens gain the skills and self-knowledge to heal from the maladaptive behaviors, underlying causes, and negative consequences associated with teens and social media.  Contact us  today to learn more about our teen treatment programs and our approach to  healthy device management .

Frequently Asked Questions

How does social media affect teenagers.

Social media has both negative and positive effects on teen well-being and mental health. While social media platforms can help teens feel connected and stay in touch with friends and family, they can also contribute to depression, anxiety, loneliness, and FOMO (fear of missing out).

What are five negative things social media does?

Five ways in which social media negatively impacts teenagers are: 1. Cyberbullying, when teens demean or exclude others 2. Comparing oneself to others and feeling inferior 3. Lack of sleep due to staying up late on social media 4. Reduced time doing physical activities and being outside 5. Engaging in forums in which teens encourage each other in unhealthy and dangerous behaviors, such as disordered eating and self-harm.

What impact does social media have on teenagers’ self-esteem?

Comparing themselves to their peers’ curated images can undermine teen self-esteem and body image. In addition, teens also suffer from feeling left out when they see posts about events and get-togethers they weren’t invited to. It is another method to succumb to peer pressure digitally.

Does social media cause depression, or does depression increase social media use?

The answer may be yes to both questions. Research shows that young people’s use of social media is adding to their depression. However, it’s also possible that depressed teens are uninterested in other activities and consequently overuse social media.

What are the dangers of social media for youth?

Scientists have found that teen social media overuse creates a stimulation pattern similar to the pattern created by other addictive behaviors. The brain releases dopamine when a teen posts something online and is met with likes, shares, and positive comments from their peers. This can prime the teen brain for other addictions. In addition, cyberbullying and comparing themselves to others can trigger teen depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem.

What are the positive and negative effects of social media on youth?

Teens can get support and advice, feel less alone, and express their creative side on social media, as well as stay in touch with friends and family members. The negative effects of social media for teens include unfavorably comparing themselves to others, cyberbullying, feelings of loneliness and being left out, and less time doing real-world activities. Research shows a link between depression and social media use.

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Learn how treatment reduced teen suicide risk by 75%. Get the study .

The 8 Main Ways Technology Impacts Your Daily Life in 2024

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Technology affects almost every aspect of life in 2024, from transport efficiency and safety to access to food and healthcare, socialization, and productivity . It’s made learning more convenient, information easier to access, and has enabled global communities to form organically on the internet.

Even though technology has impacted our lives positively and allowed ideas and resources to be shared more easily, the overuse of some technology has been linked to a decline in mental health , increased social division , and privacy concerns . The rapid rise of AI tools like ChatGPT has raised even more questions about the role technology plays in our lives.

We take technology for granted every day – even when it’s delivering us the latest news in an instant, making our cappuccino, or connecting us with loved ones halfway across the country (or even the world).

So, to remind ourselves of just how much technology has changed society, we’ve taken a look at the eight most important ways that tech has impacted our lives in recent years.

Ways Technology Impacts Our Lives:

• Improved Communication
• AI Changing The Way We Work
• Decreased Privacy
• Accessible Shopping
• Better Information Access
• Virtual Social Lives
• Remote Working
• 4-Day Workweek

1. Improved Communication

“Come here Watson, I need to see you.” These were the first words that Alexander Graham Bell uttered over his revolutionary invention back in 1876, and it’s fair to say that the trusty telephone has had a good run. Bell originally dreamed that there would be ‘one in every town’. He was right of course — in fact, these days, there’s one in every person’s pocket. However, technology has seen the traditional audio call being edged out in favor of messaging and social media as a way of touching base.

Another medium that has seen a boom in the last few years is video calling. It’s nothing particularly new – the concept has been around for about as long as Bell’s telephone – but the revolution of high-speed broadband at affordable prices means that it’s now easy to send and receive the amounts of data needed for a video call.

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While video calling has spent the last decade slowly creeping into daily life, it’s the ongoing pandemic that has pushed it over the edge and secured its future as an everyday way to stay in touch.

Thanks to lockdowns and social distancing, families and friends are meeting up and socializing via video call more than ever before.

If you hadn’t heard of Zoom before 2020, you will have certainly become aware of it by now, and while there are plenty of other video conferencing apps out there, it’s Zoom that has emerged as the poster child for video chat in the public consciousness. In 2023, it was estimated that Zoom had well over 800 million unique global visitors a month.

In the post-pandemic world, more of us are working from home than ever. Many in-person meetings have been replaced with video conferencing as office staff swapping the boardroom for the bedroom (or wherever else they can find space to work at home) in droves. Now, based on data from mid-2022, Mckinsey estimates 35% of Americans can work from home full time.

While Zoom is a great tool for catching up with buddies, can it do the job of supporting your business through the pandemic? We’ve evaluated several high-profile video conferencing systems and can help you find the right one for your company in minutes.

2. AI Changing The Way We Work

If someone had told you just a few years ago that very soon, you’d have access to a free AI tool that could help you with all of your tasks, you might not have believed them. Millions of people now use ChatGPT, Bard , and other generative AI tools for all sorts of tasks in their personal and work lives.

Although it was only launched back in November 2022, ChatGPT has already had a transformative impact on the lives of students and businesspeople alike, making their lives easier by quickly and accurately answering questions relating to their work. According to our own research, 65% of companies are using ChatGPT already .

The AI revolution really is here. ChatGPT has been helping people with jobs like writing recipes, creating job resumes, crafting essays and poems, summarizing historical events, composing emails, creating spreadsheets, and even filing their tax returns. Others have used it to get free legal advice or plan their holiday.

The ChatGPT website is currently generating around 1.8 billion visits a month, and a Tech.co survey found that almost half (47%) of business leaders are considering using AI instead of hiring new members of staff. Some experts even say that soon, large companies will have “ 50 different AI tools ” in operation.

Be mindful that although ChatGPT is useful and has already had a significant impact on the lives of millions of people, you can’t – and shouldn’t – use it for every single essay, report, or task in your day-to-day life.

Although using ChatGPT isn’t technically plagiarism – after all, you’re not copying someone else’s work – many universities and schools now consider it to be cheating. Some teachers have said their students can use it, while others have banned it completely. It’s also not perfect, and it’s certainly not a geniue – AI tools often get things wrong, and you should always double-check the responses you receive from them.

3. Decreased Privacy

We’re spending more of our lives online than ever before. According to one report , the “typical” global internet user spent seven hours a day online in 2022.

Shopping? It’s done on Amazon. Catching up with friends? It’s FaceTime, Snapchat, or email. Want to be entertained? Netflix, or online gaming. Research? Hit up Google. Almost every facet of our daily routines can be catered for online today, so it seems inevitable that our time spent online will only increase. In fact, 37% of consumers said in a 2022 survey that they’d switched companies in an attempt to protect their own privacy.

While access to everything online gives us an unparalleled level of convenience, it has also made us vulnerable. Every move we make online is recorded, and we leave digital footprints wherever we visit. Hackers and scammers know this, and work hard to exploit it for financial gain.

Of course, as with everything else, technology has also given us the tools to protect ourselves and ensure that we are safe as our lives migrate online. In the last few years, this has become even more key – many of us are not only browsing for personal reasons, but accessing shared work networks from our own homes, and we can’t rely on the closed off security of the physical office.

One piece of technology that will help keep your data safe is the password manager . A password manager will protect your existing passwords, suggest new and secure ones, and in some cases, even monitor the web to ensure that your details aren’t compromised. Not only that, but it will do away with that ever-present fear we all have of forgetting one of our many, many passwords. If you don’t have one, there’s never been a better time to invest –plus, with some of the best apps only costing a few dollars a month, it’s a great low-cost solution for added security .

Another great security advancement is the Virtual Private Network (VPN). A VPN will bypass your internet service provider and mask your digital footprints. Nobody will be able to see the content you are accessing, and it makes you a lot less susceptible to hackers. You can also use public Wi-Fi accounts with more confidence. Many businesses have adopted them recently, as well as home users – they’re very quick to set up and most of the time you can troubleshoot a VPN yourself , which means they’re very low-maintenance.

Our recommendation? PureVPN . It’s packed with features like quantum-resistant servers and a streaming “shortcuts” tool, and has servers in more than 60 countries. What’s more, at just $2.11 per month , it’s a lot cheaper than NordVPN and ExpressVPN.

There’s also anti-virus software, providing a great shield from all the nasties out there on the internet looking to catch us out. This includes ransomware and malware, which is usually designed with the intent of extracting money from victims. From individuals to government, nobody is immune, and good antivirus software is a great way to capture and quarantine such efforts before they can wreak havoc.

Lastly, there are different ways to remove your personal information from Google that, in a world of decreased privacy, are definitely worth knowing about. Knowing how to kick off Google’s official removal request process will come in handy, for example, if you find content on a website that includes sensitive data about you.

A VPN can protect your identity from unwanted tracking. Have you used a VPN before?

4. Accessible Shopping

As we’ve mentioned, shopping has found a convenient and popular home online, but that’s not to say the high street is to be ignored – after all, you can’t really beat seeing a product in the flesh before you buy it, and you can’t eat out online just yet (you can order a delivery, but that’s not quite the same).

Technology hasn’t bypassed physical shopping either. Thanks to contactless cards and phone payments, we don’t need to worry about handing over cash or keying in a pin number – just tap to pay, and you’re done.

If you’re a business, then a Point of Sale (POS) system is a huge boon, regardless of your size. With a POS, not only can you take payments electronically, but you can also automatically manage stock levels, create electronic receipts, manage loyalty schemes, manage sales and so on. It doesn’t need to be costly, either – POS systems start at around $30 a month, and some even offer free hardware. To find out more, take a look at our POS system reviews, and compare POS systems today.

Of course, you don’t need to leave the house to shop. With the vast majority of us owning a tablet , laptop or smartphone , we’ve all got easy access to a virtual shop front right in front of us, where we can buy pretty much anything we want.

Technology has also democratized retail. It used to be the case that you needed a physical presence to start your own shop – now all you need is a computer and an idea.

Sharing your wares with the world is easier than ever. This is thanks to the simplicity of website builders – tools that can help you create professional-looking websites in minutes , then sell your products or services.

Have you used a password manager before?

5. Better Information Access

Today, if you want to find something out, it’s no more strenuous than a couple of clicks. For many of us, we don’t even need to move from the spot – simply pull out your phone and get Googling, or even ask your smart home assistant .

It may seem like a distant memory, but it wasn’t so long ago that you’d have to take a trip to the library to find out more in-depth information about a subject if it was available at all. Now, due to these advances in technology, you can find hundreds of thousands of web pages dedicated to pretty much anything you can dream of, from “crochet patterns” (Google gives 129,000,000 results) to “Roman history” (1,360,000,000 results).

It’s something of a cliche, but there is literally an app for anything, and they’ve rendered a lot of other mediums all but obsolete for many of us. Take GPS, for example – if you want to know how to get somewhere, it’s simply a case of pulling up an app like Google Maps and choosing the best route, which will come complete with directions, as well as satellite imaging. There are even apps for businesses that automatically route vehicles alongside traffic, weather, safety and legal information. App technology has also made learning, dating, dining, and almost anything else you can think of a lot easier for us.

Not to be overlooked either are the actual devices that all these apps run on. The rise of the smartphone has been exponential over the last decade, and daily web searches on mobile devices now outnumber those on laptop or desktop computers. Improvements continue to be made to handheld devices, each and every year, without fail.

The mobile phone is now considered an essential device for almost everyone, vastly superseding its original use as a telephone (to actually talk to people) and becoming our pocket-sized portal to an online world.

6. Virtual Social Lives

Another seismic change in our lives over the past decade has been the widespread usage of social media . This industry has progressed fast, and the early days of the likes of MySpace and the original version of Facebook – which first went live in 2006 – seem like a bygone age already.

Now, services such as Twitter, Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram, and others give us an insight into the waking lives of others in real-time, whether they’re friends with a few followers or celebrities with millions. New platforms are still coming out this year. Just recently, Meta – the company that owns WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram – brought out a new social media platform called Threads , which is a little bit like Twitter.

Now, these very same companies want us to spend even more time online, in a digital space they call “the Metaverse”, a virtual reality where users can interact in a computer-generated environment. Facebook’s chief Mark Zuckerberg says he wants one billion people to exist within it one day, and a variety of metaverse companies now exist. In the past year, some businesses even managed to sell virtual land in the metaverse.

Businesses have got in on the act too, and a savvy social media manager is considered essential in most companies, with their ability to make or break a brand’s reputation.

Social media’s course over the last few years has been somewhat bumpy, but as a society, or many societies, we’ve never seen global communication on such a scale. It has enabled the rise of social commentary and movements, such as #MeToo and Black Lives Matter, as well as leaving us vulnerable, with the likes of Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica scandal serving to manipulate voters and skew democracy.

Social media can be fun, but studies have also shown that it can have a detrimental effect on our mental health. It’s so bad, in fact, that some governments are calling for social media companies to be more responsible – especially when it comes to younger users.

A recent study in the UK found that 46% of young girls reported that social media had a negative impact on their self-esteem, so there’s clearly a lot to fix. Lots of other recent studies have found links between social media use and mental health issues like depression, anxiety, and even Smartphone addiction.

Ultimately, social media is only as positive as the hands of the people it’s in – but it looks like it’s here to stay, whether you like it or not.

As a consumer, you can choose to opt out, but businesses yet to get in on the action will soon fall behind the competition. Digital marketing is a hugely important aspect of any company with an online presence, and an essential one to get right.

7. Remote Working

2020 will be remembered for a lot of negative reasons, but one of its most defining positives has been the widespread acceptance of working from home. With the pandemic in full swing, many had to abandon their offices and log on from their own residences.

At its peak, 42% of Americans were working from home, according to one study. The trend has continued longer after the pandemic too, with large companies such as Twitter and Microsoft already stating that their staff can work from home indefinitely.

The CIPD’s 2023 report on flexible working found that 40% of organizations reported an increase in requests for flexible working arrangements in 2023. Two-thirds (66%) of organizations said it was important to them to offer this perk when advertising for new roles, up from 56% in 2021.

For many, working from home has been something of a revelation – no commuting, more flexible hours, a lessened environmental impact, and being able to choose where they work. All this is made possible thanks to technological advancements, yet again – as well as a whole host of companies offering remote work .

That’s not to say working outside the office doesn’t have its challenges – organizing employees who are spread across various locations successfully can certainly present problems. But yet again, our friend technological progress comes to the rescue, this time with remote working software , which can aid in organization, time management, goal focus and structure.

Anti-Virus Software Prevents Security Risks

8. 4-Day Workweek

Classic cartoon The Jetsons gave us a glimpse into the future of work, with the main character lamenting the fact he had to work ‘three hours a day, three days a week’.

The Jetsons was set in 2062, so there’s still a chance we could end up with a nine hour week, but until then, the focus is on the 4-day workweek.

It’s a movement that has seen a huge push in the last couple of years, with many companies starting to offer employees longer weekends . Some US States are also pushing a 4-day workweek, too .

The reason for the 4-day workweek becoming viable is, you guessed it, technology, specifically, AI. With the ability for tech to do a lot of the heavy lifting, many are arguing, including the likes of Bernie Sanders , that workers should reap the benefits and be rewarded with more leisure time.

We have seen some landmark studies carried out on the reduced workweek over the last year, and they proved overwhelmingly positive for the most part.

And why not? As we mention above, remote working, once seen as a luxury, is now more common than ever. The 4-day workweek could well be next.

Conclusion: The Impact of Technology

So, there we have it — eight dramatic ways that technology has impacted our daily lives for good. Of course, technology never takes a rest, and you can bet that it won’t be long before some of the devices and services we’ve covered here are superseded — in many cases, their next iteration is already being worked on in a lab somewhere.

Regardless, there’s no denying that technology has, and will continue to, have a huge impact on our lives, in one way or another.

More on this topic:

• Flirt, Fake, Make Them Wait— How Technology Has Changed the Way We Interact
• Top 6 Social Media Trends
• 10 Ways Businesses Are Using ChatGPT Right Now
• How to Remove Your Personal Information From Google
• What is a Digital Footprint, and How Do You Minimize It?

How Technology Has Changed Our Lives: FAQs

How has technology impacted society, how has technology impacted people's activity levels, what are five positive effects of technology, what are five negative effects of technology.

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The state of AI in early 2024: Gen AI adoption spikes and starts to generate value

If 2023 was the year the world discovered generative AI (gen AI) , 2024 is the year organizations truly began using—and deriving business value from—this new technology. In the latest McKinsey Global Survey  on AI, 65 percent of respondents report that their organizations are regularly using gen AI, nearly double the percentage from our previous survey just ten months ago. Respondents’ expectations for gen AI’s impact remain as high as they were last year , with three-quarters predicting that gen AI will lead to significant or disruptive change in their industries in the years ahead.

About the authors

This article is a collaborative effort by Alex Singla , Alexander Sukharevsky , Lareina Yee , and Michael Chui , with Bryce Hall , representing views from QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey, and McKinsey Digital.

Organizations are already seeing material benefits from gen AI use, reporting both cost decreases and revenue jumps in the business units deploying the technology. The survey also provides insights into the kinds of risks presented by gen AI—most notably, inaccuracy—as well as the emerging practices of top performers to mitigate those challenges and capture value.

AI adoption surges

Interest in generative AI has also brightened the spotlight on a broader set of AI capabilities. For the past six years, AI adoption by respondents’ organizations has hovered at about 50 percent. This year, the survey finds that adoption has jumped to 72 percent (Exhibit 1). And the interest is truly global in scope. Our 2023 survey found that AI adoption did not reach 66 percent in any region; however, this year more than two-thirds of respondents in nearly every region say their organizations are using AI. 1 Organizations based in Central and South America are the exception, with 58 percent of respondents working for organizations based in Central and South America reporting AI adoption. Looking by industry, the biggest increase in adoption can be found in professional services. 2 Includes respondents working for organizations focused on human resources, legal services, management consulting, market research, R&D, tax preparation, and training.

Also, responses suggest that companies are now using AI in more parts of the business. Half of respondents say their organizations have adopted AI in two or more business functions, up from less than a third of respondents in 2023 (Exhibit 2).

Gen AI adoption is most common in the functions where it can create the most value

Most respondents now report that their organizations—and they as individuals—are using gen AI. Sixty-five percent of respondents say their organizations are regularly using gen AI in at least one business function, up from one-third last year. The average organization using gen AI is doing so in two functions, most often in marketing and sales and in product and service development—two functions in which previous research  determined that gen AI adoption could generate the most value 3 “ The economic potential of generative AI: The next productivity frontier ,” McKinsey, June 14, 2023. —as well as in IT (Exhibit 3). The biggest increase from 2023 is found in marketing and sales, where reported adoption has more than doubled. Yet across functions, only two use cases, both within marketing and sales, are reported by 15 percent or more of respondents.

Gen AI also is weaving its way into respondents’ personal lives. Compared with 2023, respondents are much more likely to be using gen AI at work and even more likely to be using gen AI both at work and in their personal lives (Exhibit 4). The survey finds upticks in gen AI use across all regions, with the largest increases in Asia–Pacific and Greater China. Respondents at the highest seniority levels, meanwhile, show larger jumps in the use of gen Al tools for work and outside of work compared with their midlevel-management peers. Looking at specific industries, respondents working in energy and materials and in professional services report the largest increase in gen AI use.

Investments in gen AI and analytical AI are beginning to create value

The latest survey also shows how different industries are budgeting for gen AI. Responses suggest that, in many industries, organizations are about equally as likely to be investing more than 5 percent of their digital budgets in gen AI as they are in nongenerative, analytical-AI solutions (Exhibit 5). Yet in most industries, larger shares of respondents report that their organizations spend more than 20 percent on analytical AI than on gen AI. Looking ahead, most respondents—67 percent—expect their organizations to invest more in AI over the next three years.

Where are those investments paying off? For the first time, our latest survey explored the value created by gen AI use by business function. The function in which the largest share of respondents report seeing cost decreases is human resources. Respondents most commonly report meaningful revenue increases (of more than 5 percent) in supply chain and inventory management (Exhibit 6). For analytical AI, respondents most often report seeing cost benefits in service operations—in line with what we found last year —as well as meaningful revenue increases from AI use in marketing and sales.

Inaccuracy: The most recognized and experienced risk of gen AI use

As businesses begin to see the benefits of gen AI, they’re also recognizing the diverse risks associated with the technology. These can range from data management risks such as data privacy, bias, or intellectual property (IP) infringement to model management risks, which tend to focus on inaccurate output or lack of explainability. A third big risk category is security and incorrect use.

Respondents to the latest survey are more likely than they were last year to say their organizations consider inaccuracy and IP infringement to be relevant to their use of gen AI, and about half continue to view cybersecurity as a risk (Exhibit 7).

Conversely, respondents are less likely than they were last year to say their organizations consider workforce and labor displacement to be relevant risks and are not increasing efforts to mitigate them.

In fact, inaccuracy— which can affect use cases across the gen AI value chain , ranging from customer journeys and summarization to coding and creative content—is the only risk that respondents are significantly more likely than last year to say their organizations are actively working to mitigate.

Some organizations have already experienced negative consequences from the use of gen AI, with 44 percent of respondents saying their organizations have experienced at least one consequence (Exhibit 8). Respondents most often report inaccuracy as a risk that has affected their organizations, followed by cybersecurity and explainability.

Our previous research has found that there are several elements of governance that can help in scaling gen AI use responsibly, yet few respondents report having these risk-related practices in place. 4 “ Implementing generative AI with speed and safety ,” McKinsey Quarterly , March 13, 2024. For example, just 18 percent say their organizations have an enterprise-wide council or board with the authority to make decisions involving responsible AI governance, and only one-third say gen AI risk awareness and risk mitigation controls are required skill sets for technical talent.

Bringing gen AI capabilities to bear

The latest survey also sought to understand how, and how quickly, organizations are deploying these new gen AI tools. We have found three archetypes for implementing gen AI solutions : takers use off-the-shelf, publicly available solutions; shapers customize those tools with proprietary data and systems; and makers develop their own foundation models from scratch. 5 “ Technology’s generational moment with generative AI: A CIO and CTO guide ,” McKinsey, July 11, 2023. Across most industries, the survey results suggest that organizations are finding off-the-shelf offerings applicable to their business needs—though many are pursuing opportunities to customize models or even develop their own (Exhibit 9). About half of reported gen AI uses within respondents’ business functions are utilizing off-the-shelf, publicly available models or tools, with little or no customization. Respondents in energy and materials, technology, and media and telecommunications are more likely to report significant customization or tuning of publicly available models or developing their own proprietary models to address specific business needs.

Respondents most often report that their organizations required one to four months from the start of a project to put gen AI into production, though the time it takes varies by business function (Exhibit 10). It also depends upon the approach for acquiring those capabilities. Not surprisingly, reported uses of highly customized or proprietary models are 1.5 times more likely than off-the-shelf, publicly available models to take five months or more to implement.

Gen AI high performers are excelling despite facing challenges

Gen AI is a new technology, and organizations are still early in the journey of pursuing its opportunities and scaling it across functions. So it’s little surprise that only a small subset of respondents (46 out of 876) report that a meaningful share of their organizations’ EBIT can be attributed to their deployment of gen AI. Still, these gen AI leaders are worth examining closely. These, after all, are the early movers, who already attribute more than 10 percent of their organizations’ EBIT to their use of gen AI. Forty-two percent of these high performers say more than 20 percent of their EBIT is attributable to their use of nongenerative, analytical AI, and they span industries and regions—though most are at organizations with less than $1 billion in annual revenue. The AI-related practices at these organizations can offer guidance to those looking to create value from gen AI adoption at their own organizations.

To start, gen AI high performers are using gen AI in more business functions—an average of three functions, while others average two. They, like other organizations, are most likely to use gen AI in marketing and sales and product or service development, but they’re much more likely than others to use gen AI solutions in risk, legal, and compliance; in strategy and corporate finance; and in supply chain and inventory management. They’re more than three times as likely as others to be using gen AI in activities ranging from processing of accounting documents and risk assessment to R&D testing and pricing and promotions. While, overall, about half of reported gen AI applications within business functions are utilizing publicly available models or tools, gen AI high performers are less likely to use those off-the-shelf options than to either implement significantly customized versions of those tools or to develop their own proprietary foundation models.

What else are these high performers doing differently? For one thing, they are paying more attention to gen-AI-related risks. Perhaps because they are further along on their journeys, they are more likely than others to say their organizations have experienced every negative consequence from gen AI we asked about, from cybersecurity and personal privacy to explainability and IP infringement. Given that, they are more likely than others to report that their organizations consider those risks, as well as regulatory compliance, environmental impacts, and political stability, to be relevant to their gen AI use, and they say they take steps to mitigate more risks than others do.

Gen AI high performers are also much more likely to say their organizations follow a set of risk-related best practices (Exhibit 11). For example, they are nearly twice as likely as others to involve the legal function and embed risk reviews early on in the development of gen AI solutions—that is, to “ shift left .” They’re also much more likely than others to employ a wide range of other best practices, from strategy-related practices to those related to scaling.

In addition to experiencing the risks of gen AI adoption, high performers have encountered other challenges that can serve as warnings to others (Exhibit 12). Seventy percent say they have experienced difficulties with data, including defining processes for data governance, developing the ability to quickly integrate data into AI models, and an insufficient amount of training data, highlighting the essential role that data play in capturing value. High performers are also more likely than others to report experiencing challenges with their operating models, such as implementing agile ways of working and effective sprint performance management.

About the research

The online survey was in the field from February 22 to March 5, 2024, and garnered responses from 1,363 participants representing the full range of regions, industries, company sizes, functional specialties, and tenures. Of those respondents, 981 said their organizations had adopted AI in at least one business function, and 878 said their organizations were regularly using gen AI in at least one function. To adjust for differences in response rates, the data are weighted by the contribution of each respondent’s nation to global GDP.

Alex Singla and Alexander Sukharevsky  are global coleaders of QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey, and senior partners in McKinsey’s Chicago and London offices, respectively; Lareina Yee  is a senior partner in the Bay Area office, where Michael Chui , a McKinsey Global Institute partner, is a partner; and Bryce Hall  is an associate partner in the Washington, DC, office.

They wish to thank Kaitlin Noe, Larry Kanter, Mallika Jhamb, and Shinjini Srivastava for their contributions to this work.

This article was edited by Heather Hanselman, a senior editor in McKinsey’s Atlanta office.

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Steve Jobs: a Visionary Leader in Technology

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The role of corruption in global food systems: a systematic scoping review

• Anastassia Demeshko 1 ,
• Chloe Clifford Astbury 1 , 2 ,
• Kirsten M. Lee 1 , 2 ,
• Janielle Clarke 1 ,
• Katherine Cullerton 3 &
• Tarra L. Penney 1 , 2  

Globalization and Health volume  20 , Article number:  48 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

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Corruption exists at all levels of our global society and is a potential threat to food security, food safety, equity, and social justice. However, there is a knowledge gap in the role and impact of corruption within the context of the global food system. We aimed to systematically review empirical literature focused on corruption in the global food system to examine how it is characterized, the actors involved, its potential impacts, and the solutions that have been proposed to address corruption in the food system.

We used a systematic scoping review methodology. Terms combining corruption and the food system were searched in Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science, PsycInfo and Econlit, in October 2021. Two screeners applied a priori selection criteria to screen the articles at the title and abstract and full-text levels. Data was extracted into a charting form and thematically synthesized to describe the types of corruption in the food system, the actors involved, how corruption impacts the food system, and potential solutions. Sankey diagrams and narrative summaries were developed to summarize the included studies and findings.

From the 238 included records, five main types of corruption were identified in the global food system: bureaucratic corruption, fraud, bribery, organized crime, and corporate political activity. These different types of corruption spanned across various food system areas, from policy and governance structures to food environments, and involved a wide range of actors. More powerful actors like those in public and private sectors tended to instigate corruption in the food system, while community members and primary producers tended to be impacted by it. The impacts of corruption were mostly negative and corruption was found to undermine food system governance and regulatory structures; threaten health, safety, and food security; and lead or contribute to environmental degradation, economic loss, erosion of trust, social inequities, and decreased agricultural productivity. While solution-oriented literature was limited, the essential role of strong governance,  use of technology and predictive modelling methods to improve detection of corruption, and organizational approaches to problem solving were identified.

Our review findings provide researchers and policymakers with a comprehensive overview of corruption in the global food system, providing insights to inform a more holistic approach to addressing the issue. Addressing corruption in the food system is an essential element of supporting the transition to a more healthy, equitable and sustainable global food system.

Introduction

Corruption is a complex phenomenon which takes many forms and exists at all levels of global society [ 1 ]. Within the global food system, there is limited understanding of the types of corruption that exist, the actors involved, and whether the potential impacts might disrupt efforts to transition to healthy, sustainable, and equitable food systems [ 2 ].

The need for a systems approach for healthy, sustainable, and equitable food systems

The Food and Agriculture Organization defines the food system as encompassing “ the entire range of actors and their interlinked value-adding activities involved in the production, aggregation, processing, distribution, consumption and disposal of food products that originate from agriculture, forestry or fisheries, and parts of the broader economic, societal and natural environments in which they are embedded ” [ 3 ]. From production to consumption, the productivity and sustainability of the global food system are interconnected with policy and governance structures and systems that support food production (e.g., ecological, economic or health systems that food supply chains depend on) [ 4 ]. In turn, these directly and indirectly affect the food supply chains, food environments, consumer behaviors, diets, and health outcomes contained within the food system [ 3 , 5 ].

The current food system is failing to provide nutritious foods for all [ 6 ]. Inextricably linked to issues of health, humanitarianism, and environmental sustainability [ 7 , 8 ], the food system is associated with complex challenges such as poverty, non-communicable disease, environmental degradation, and economic downturns [ 9 ]. More than 800 million people experience hunger [ 9 ], over two billion experience micronutrient deficiencies [ 10 ], and almost two billion live with overweight or obesity [ 11 ]. While enough food is produced to feed the world, 931 million tons of food were wasted in 2019–17% of all food produced [ 12 ]. Food systems are essential to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including ‘zero hunger’ and ‘responsible consumption and production’ [ 3 ].

Given the complexity of food system challenges, there has been a call for systems approaches to guide a global transition to healthy, sustainable and equitable food systems [ 3 ]. A systems approach recognizes the totality of food system components and drivers, which may help to address the limitations of previous efforts to improve food security and nutrition, such as taking a production-focused approach that aims to increase food supply [ 3 , 4 , 13 ]. While this approach might allow systemic challenges, such as corruption, to be holistically conceptualized, these challenges can vary in their presentation, drivers, and impacts across the food system [ 6 , 7 ].

The challenge of corruption in the global food system

Corruption can be defined as the abuse of entrusted power, usually for the purpose of political, financial, or personal gain [ 1 ]. In its most common forms, corruption can occur as bribery, theft, nepotism, exploitation of conflicting interests, organized crime, legislative capture, extortion, improper political contributions, and poor governance [ 14 ]. Corruption has been shown to be a primary barrier for nations in meeting SDGs [ 15 , 16 ]. However, although we know that corruption is present throughout society, little attention has been allocated to understanding its role in the context of improving global food systems in efforts to support health, the environment, and equity.

Given that corruption varies in type, activity, and between sectors, it is critical to develop context-specific understanding of how it operates in the food system [ 17 , 18 , 19 ]. Explicit acts of food system corruption have been identified, including public officials accepting bribes and participating in organized crime [ 20 , 21 ]. Experts have also introduced the idea of ‘legal corruption’ [ 17 , 22 ], which includes widespread practices in food policy and research such as unreported conflict of interest with the food and beverage industry [ 17 ]. Corruption is also interspersed in the functioning of society and therefore, difficult to eradicate given the role it plays in daily life [ 23 , 24 , 25 ]. For example, in some countries, corruption has become essential for ensuring jobs and farm loans can be secured. Understanding corruption in the global food system can inform anti-corruption policies and programs that minimize further impacts on vulnerable actors. Therefore, there is a need to understand corruption in the context of the global food system and address the knowledge gap in how we can integrate anti-corruption measures to support a food system transition [ 17 , 26 ].

We aimed to systematically review literature focused on corruption in the global food system to understand how it is characterized, the actors involved, whether and how corruption impacts the food system, and potential solutions to corruption in the food system.

A systematic scoping review of peer-reviewed literature was conducted to investigate corruption in the global food system. The five-stage scoping review framework devised by Arksey and O’Malley, and refined by Levac et al., was used to identify and summarize the literature on this topic [ 27 , 28 ]. The methodology and reporting were directed by the ‘Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses for Scoping Reviews’ guidelines [ 29 ].

Stage 1: identifying the research question

Informed by our study aims, our research questions were:

How is corruption in the food system characterized in the peer-reviewed literature?

What actors are involved in corruption in the food system, how does corruption impact the food system, what solutions have been proposed to address corruption in the food system, stage 2: identifying relevant studies.

Five electronic databases (Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science, PsycInfo, and Econlit) were systematically searched in October 2021 to identify the relevant literature for the scoping review. The main concepts of the research question informed the search strategy. These concepts were guided by the ‘Population, Concept, Context’ Framework established by the Joanna Briggs Institute (Table  1 ) [ 30 ]. Titles, abstracts, and keywords within the electronic databases were searched (see Supplementary File 1 for the full search strategy).

Stage 3: study selection

Records identified through the database searches were collated and screened using Covidence reference management software [ 31 ]. All duplicates were removed. To select the relevant papers, the eligibility criteria presented in Table  2 were used.

A modified double screening process was used. First, AD and CCA independently screened an initial set of 100 titles and abstracts. Results were compared to ensure consistency in decisions around study eligibility, and disagreements were resolved through consensus. This process was repeated until an acceptable level of agreement (> 90%) was reached. The remaining records were screened by AD. AD and CCA screened 50% of title and abstracts before moving to single screening. Following this, full-text double screening was undertaken by AD and CCA on all articles, and conflicts were resolved by consensus. As recommended by published guidelines, the list of included studies was refined iteratively throughout the selection process [ 27 , 28 ].

Stage 4: charting the data

Two researchers (AD and JC) extracted data using a data charting form (see Supplementary File 2 ), focusing on key study characteristics including the country context and area of the food system in which corruption occurred; type of corruption explored in the study; stakeholders involved; impacts of corruption; and any potential solutions proposed. In line with the Arksey and O’Malley scoping review guidelines, we trialed the data charting form with ten records, making revisions as needed to ensure the data was appropriately addressing the research questions. Amendments to the charting form involved broadening and simplifying the prompts for data extraction. This was due to the heterogeneity of study types, which made sections of the initial form inapplicable to some studies. In line with scoping review guidelines, a formal quality assessment of the records was not conducted.

Stage 5: collating, summarizing, and reporting the results

To summarize this large and heterogenous data set, we used both qualitative and quantitative approaches. Based on a review of the charted data, we developed and defined categories (Table  3 ) to summarize the included studies, drawing on relevant frameworks and definitions from the literature focused on types of corruption (e.g., Transparency International’s database, the concept of legal corruption, Corporate Political Activity framework) [ 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 ]; food system actors [ 36 , 37 ]; and areas of the food system [ 5 , 10 ]. We used the categories described in Table  3 , as well as narrative summaries developed through qualitative content analysis [ 38 ] and visual summaries in the form of Sankey diagrams, to answer our research questions:

We characterized studies as focusing on one or more of the five corruption types (Table  3 ). For each type, we reviewed relevant summaries, narratively summarizing examples of this corruption type occurring within the food system, as well as measurement and data collection approaches.

In describing the food system actors involved with corruption in each study, we identified two roles: instigators of corruption and those impacted by corruption. We categorized each of our included studies by the food system area in which corruption occurred, and the actors who instigated or were impacted by corruption. We summarized this information using a Sankey diagram to illustrate the concentration of corruption in particular food system areas, as well as the flow of corruption from instigators to those impacted. The Sankey diagram was developed using an open-source online tool, SankeyMATIC [ 39 ]. Sankey diagrams have been suggested as a useful tool to present patterns of evidence in systematic reviews, particularly when data is complex and heterogenous [ 40 ]; as was the case for our dataset. A Sankey diagram consists of nodes and their connecting flows (e.g., flows of information, resources, or characteristics) within a process or network [ 40 , 41 ]. In our Sankey diagrams, the nodes represent the areas of interest in the review synthesis process, while the flows represent the number of studies in which a concept was identified. The width of each flow is proportional to the total number of times each concept was identified within the literature, and the intersection between different study characteristics (e.g., how many studies reported on corruption perpetuated by government officials and, of these, how many reported impacts on farmers versus consumers versus other stakeholders? ). As the categories for the different nodes are not mutually exclusive and studies often included multiple concepts (e.g., fraud and organized crime were reported in the same study), the totals do not equate to the number of included records and instead, vary between nodes.

In order to assess the impacts of corruption, we focused on studies categorized as providing evidence of impact, rather than descriptive evidence (Table  3 ). To illustrate the intersections between the type of corruption, the area in which it occurred and its impacts, we developed a Sankey diagram using the approach described above. We also narratively summarized the evidence around each type of impact, citing examples drawn from the included literature.

We narratively summarized the evidence around proposed solutions to corruption in the food system, as presented in the included studies.

Our search identified 5326 records after duplicates were removed. Of these, a total of 238 articles met the inclusion criteria (see Fig.  1 ).

PRISMA flow diagram

Most studies were focused on Sub-Saharan Africa ( n  = 55, of a total of 238 records) and Europe and Central Asia ( n  = 54), followed by East Asia and Pacific ( n  = 37), South Asia ( n  = 25), North America ( n  = 19), Latin America and The Caribbean ( n  = 13), and Middle East and North Africa ( n  = 5). Additionally, 30 papers studied corruption at the global level, including multiple regions. High- ( n  = 68, of a total of 238 records) and lower-middle-income ( n  = 67) countries were most commonly studied. Studies at the global level involving various income brackets ( n  = 48), and those of upper-middle-income ( n  = 39) nations, were also frequently investigated. Low-income nations were the least studied ( n  = 16) from the included literature in this review. Included studies were published between 1992 and 2021. Of the total, almost 90% of the records were published after 2010 (refer to Fig.  2 ).

Records included in the scoping review by year of publication ( n  = 238)

A similar number of articles used quantitative ( n  = 101) and qualitative ( n  = 99) study designs. The remaining 38 papers used mixed methods approaches. Studies used many approaches to collecting data on corruption in the food system, and this choice was often informed by the authors’ interpretations of corruption in their food system context. Supplementary File 3 summarizes the methodological approaches taken to capturing corruption. The quantitative approaches to measuring corruption included macro-level analysis, applying standardized internationally comparable indicators such as the Corruption Perception Index developed by Transparency International and the World Bank’s ‘control of corruption’ measure; micro-level analysis, where a proxy variable was developed to represent the specific type of corruption, often at a local or national level; and modelling analysis where empirical data was used to test the predictive power of the model. Qualitative approaches included ethnographic research, case study analysis, content analysis, and interview data collection.

The types of corruption investigated in the food system context were also heterogenous and terminology was used inconsistently. However, it was possible to identify conceptually distinct types of corruption: bureaucratic corruption ( n  = 105), fraud ( n  = 68), organized crime ( n  = 56), corporate political activity (CPA) ( n  = 38), and bribery ( n  = 33). The descriptive characteristics for the included records stratified by corruption type are presented in Table  4 below (full study details in Supplementary File 4 ).

We categorized corruption into five types as described in Table  3 : bureaucratic corruption, fraud, organized crime, corporate political activity and bribery. Examples of each type of corruption, as well as approaches to capturing and collecting data used in the literature, are summarized below.

Bureaucratic corruption

Bureaucratic corruption was the type of corruption most frequently identified in the food system context. While it was studied in all country income groups, it was most commonly studied in lower middle income countries ( n  = 48). North America was the only region where bureaucratic corruption was only studied as part of records investigating multiple countries and/or reporting global-level aggregate indicators. Overall, most studies in this category involved the public sector. Political corruption, political influence, rent seeking (i.e. extracting wealth through political or social power), and clientelism (i.e. trading political power for goods and services) were types of bureaucratic corruption specific to the public sector. Public sector corruption was frequently investigated through macro-level indicators (utilizing standardized internationally comparable indicators such as the Corruption Perception Index by Transparency International and World Bank’s governance indicators, namely the ‘control of corruption’ measure) to understand institutional relationships [ 46 , 47 , 48 ]. Context-specific explorations of corruption involving governments or state officials were also identified through a range of methodological approaches, including ethnographic studies to understand ambivalent personal relatedness in public office, or case-study analyses involving key informant interviews with those experiencing the bureaucratic corruption [ 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 ]. The subtypes of patronage, regulatory capture, coercion, nepotism, cronyism, negligence of duty, conflict of interest and extortion generally applied to a range of food system areas and actors [ 23 , 53 ].

Food fraud was the most common type of fraud studied, involving food industry actors who altered food products in a way that deceived citizens but enabled corporations or businesses to gain profits. Fraud was most commonly studied in high-income nations ( n  = 34). Examples of food fraud include the 2013 horsemeat scandal in the European Union, compromised safety of infant formula in China, and more generally, cases where product authenticity was not upheld (e.g., extra-virgin olive oil, halal meat products, seafood) and resulted in food safety issues for communities [ 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 ]. The consequences of food fraud on consumer trust in the food industry and farmers’ trust in the authorities and other food system actors were also commonly investigated [ 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 ]. Other identified types of fraud were agricultural fraud (e.g., contaminated crop pesticides), identity fraud, forgery, financial fraud and theft of public funds, computer fraud, and food stamp fraud [ 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 ].

Organized crime

Organized crime was present in the global food system in diverse ways. This included illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing; labor exploitation of farm or restaurant workers; resource leakage or diversion of funds, particularly in food subsidy or welfare programs; collusion; land grabbing; money laundering using the structures of food production as a pawn; embezzlement; and reoccurring instances of theft or pilferage [ 20 , 59 , 68 ]. A common area of overlap was found between organized crime and fraud, where ‘food crimes’ were described. Examples of these ‘food crimes’ include farmers experiencing repeated exploitation or theft of stock within the meat supply chain, and subsidy leakage and diversion in public distribution programs which particularly affected vulnerable communities [ 69 , 70 ].

Corporate political activity

Corporate political activity (CPA) largely concerned acts of lobbying, but also captured any tactics that corporations and businesses used to influence policies that affected the food system (e.g., sugar taxation, agricultural subsidies, obesity prevention legislation) [ 71 , 72 , 73 ]. These activities were typically legal in their contexts, and were often seen as a legitimate and accepted part of the democratic process in democratic countries. CPA captures what some study authors call a ‘grey area’ of corruption which, while legal, involves behaviors that influence food governance and policies for the private gains of industry [ 74 , 75 ].

Examples of bribery involved excess financial payments in exchange for goods, such as food stamp cards, or services. Services provided in exchange for bribes included transporting food products across borders or providing a positive food safety inspection result regardless of whether products or premises met regulatory standards [ 21 , 76 , 77 ]. Bribery was often captured by measuring discrepancies between the expected versus actual cost of a service or item, or through accounts of paying off an individual in a position of authority. In some cases, it was merely stated that ‘bribery’ was present without elaboration. While at other times, bribery was sub-categorized as gift-giving or kickbacks. Gift-giving involved the transfer of resources (that were not necessarily financial) in exchange for a favor. Presented as a sociocultural norm, descriptions of gift-giving were less negative in tone compared to other forms of bribery [ 21 , 78 , 79 ].

Figure  3 illustrates the flow of corruption across the food system from actors who are instigators of corruption to those impacted by corruption (see Supplementary File 4 for full details of included studies). Within policy and governance structures, government officials and public servants were the most frequently identified instigators of corruption ( n  = 81), where their behaviors mostly impacted community members ( n  = 45). Intermediaries ( n  = 27) and public safety and security authorities or regulators ( n  = 24) were the next most frequent instigators of corruption within policy and governance structures. Notably, within food supply chains, every category of actor was found to be involved with instigating corruption in this food system area, though business and corporate actors were the most frequent instigators ( n  = 33). While community members were most commonly impacted by corruption, they were rarely identified as the instigators of corruption. In contrast, business or corporate actors were often identified as instigators of corruption but were impacted by corruption on only a few occasions (see Supplementary File 5 for full distribution of instigators and those impacted by corruption).

Sankey diagram identifying the flow of corruption among food system actors. The width of each flow is proportional to the total number of concepts identified in the literature for that node, representing a salience of these concepts across the literature base. As the categories for the different nodes are not mutually exclusive the totals vary between nodes. Ns represent the number of concepts identified for each category. (*) Differentiates similar-named categories across different nodes

Of the included studies, 155 records reported an impact of corruption on the food system. Figure  4 illustrates how corruptions impacts the food system in different ways (see Supplementary File 4 for full study details). The impacts on the food system were primarily negative, though there were also nuances, where corruption was depicted as being interwoven with the food system and a part of some of its functions and mechanisms. A summary of how corruption impacts the food system is described below.

Undermines governance and regulatory structures

Corruption undermined food system governance structures. Namely, corruption resulted in inefficient operations, impaired accountability, poor performance and lack of transparency. This could have ripple effects beyond the food system, creating barriers to addressing climate change, for example by undermining equitable access to funds and infrastructure made available to support adaptation to climate change [ 80 , 81 ]. Corruption also undermined food safety: in some cases, failed health inspections were dismissed or food production had decreased input quality (e.g., seeds, chemical fertilizers, and pesticides were below acceptable standards), and surveillance was relaxed to conceal substandard food practices [ 21 , 50 , 82 , 83 ].

Officials responsible for governing society often undermined governance systems, using their position of authority as an opportunity for private gain. State officials often sought bribes from individuals working within the food system, normalizing corruption throughout the system [ 78 , 82 , 84 ]. In one study, truck drivers transporting food were threatened with transit delays by police officers unless they offered a bribe [ 76 ]. In another example, artisanal fishers found it more beneficial to bribe officials than obtain a formal license for their vessel. While the bribe could cost substantially more than a fishing license, it exempted them from further fishing controls [ 59 ]. In these cases, individuals found it necessary to engage in corrupt practices to protect their livelihoods [ 81 ].

Corruption also undermined the democratic process and attempts at socioeconomic and political reform. Patron-client relationships were often part of an informal governance system that accorded private sector actors a degree of decision-making power over regulations or public policy. This dynamic was documented in the literature in contexts including Indonesian fishing laws [ 85 ], food commodity market prices [ 83 ], food welfare subsidies [ 86 ], and food inspection regulations [ 21 ]. Governance was also undermined by buying votes to influence political outcomes [ 87 ], censoring public health campaigns [ 88 , 89 ], or influencing academics to frame evidence and public opinion in a way that favored industry interests [ 56 ].

Similarly, the grey area of corruption involved corporate political activities that, although legal, also interfered with policy and government decision-making processes [ 72 ]. For example, actors used strategies including media and public mobilization, lobbying, contributions to election campaigns, or creation of kinship and social ties between business and political elites, to prevent meaningful agricultural or food tax reform that aimed to redistribute costs away from consumers, farmers, or individuals with low socioeconomic backgrounds, to corporations and the rich [ 90 , 91 , 92 ]. Food industry lobbying that weakened policy responses to address diet-related disease was also investigated [ 93 ]. Shifting the focus of government policy away from socio-structural factors to individual responsibility, and from nutrition to physical activity is an instance of this [ 94 ], as well as abolishing the formulation of a sugar tax [ 95 ]. Moreover, it was reported that corruption weakened governance but weak governance also allowed corruption to occur, creating a self-perpetuating cycle of more corruptive behaviors [ 96 ].

Leads to environmental degradation

The presence of corruption was reported to lead to environmental degradation in various forms. This included overexploitation of species and natural resources, such as declining local fish supply and catches due to unregulated fishing, threats to wildlife, disregard for climate change and the environment, and greater deforestation when higher levels of corruption were present [ 52 , 97 , 98 ].

Decreases agricultural productivity

Corruption led to decreased agricultural productivity in various ways. It reduced farmer cropland expansion and caused farmers to abandon farmland; limited the number of animals that could be profitably sold due to excess costs of corruption (e.g., due to bribes or informally changed rules and regulations); and affected smallholder farmers’ and traders’ ability to participate in food production due to inflated costs [ 99 , 100 ]. The consequences of corruption for agricultural productivity are also compounded by resource leakage causing reduced agricultural output for farmers, and reduced labor capacity for farming due to workers migrating away from areas where corruption was inevitable [ 101 , 102 , 103 ].

Threatens health, safety, and food security

Corruption poses numerous threats to health, both at the individual and national level. Whether it was decreased caloric intake due to high food prices and lack of food accessibility (i.e., from having to pay bribes), or health risks due to the consumption of unsafe food in the case of food fraud, corruption was described as negatively impacting physical and psychological health [ 56 , 104 ]. When workers were involved, e.g., at a restaurant or farm, corruptive acts involved exploitation that led to consequences to health, safety, and even life [ 105 , 106 , 107 ]. At the macro level, decreased national life expectancy, and increased food insecurity, malnutrition, mortality, and armed conflict, were other reported impacts of corruption [ 104 , 108 , 109 ].

Erodes trust

The erosion of trust within communities was another byproduct of corruption in the food system. Decreased consumer confidence in products linked to corruption negatively impacted purchasing behaviors, food preferences, and perceptions of brand credibility [ 58 , 62 , 110 ]. Moreover, the exposure of corruption within the food system threatened social order and undermined community relationships, as it fueled community doubt in authorities and those in power [ 56 , 111 ].

Economic loss

Financial or economic loss due to corruption were also present in various areas of the food system. At the household level, corruption was a financial burden due to overpayments for products and lowered income, especially impacting people in low-income brackets [ 104 , 112 ]. Furthermore, unequally distributed welfare payments placed further financial pressure on food insecure households. The cost of participating in food production in the presence of corruption, (e.g., paying for land, administrative fees, etc.) caused financial losses for farmers and businesses, resulted in unstable markets, and increased downstream costs in the food supply chain [ 113 , 114 ]. At the national level, the presence of corruption diverted investors’ financial aid and foreign direct investments, discouraged business activity, and led to loss of output and employment [ 103 , 115 , 116 , 117 ].

Widening social inequities

The widening of social inequities was another impact of corruption in the food system. Segregation, racism, and social exclusion were perpetuated by corruption [ 92 , 118 ]. Whether it was at the shop level where households belonging to ‘lower’ castes were unable to buy products, or at the national level, where villagers were stripped of their land rights to enable lucrative business development, the power imbalance that often complemented corruptive behavior further exacerbated social inequities. Low-income households, minority groups, and smallholder farmers were disproportionately affected [ 111 , 119 ]. For smallholders in particular, marginalization occurred when large-scale farms captured most of the market due to patronage relations and power imbalances [ 92 , 120 , 121 ]. Moreover, diversion of funding and resources, and market price instability also had greater impacts on smallholders’ participation in food production activities [ 122 , 123 ].

Nuance in the impacts of corruption

Despite the negative impacts of corruption in the food system, there was some nuance in the portrayal of corruption in the literature. In some cases, studies highlighted that corruption was tightly interwoven with the food system, and was a key part of some of its functions and mechanisms. Corruption was seen as a mechanism to compensate for bureaucratic failures throughout the food supply chain, and a norm to the functionality of governance systems to progress policymaking [ 21 , 50 , 124 , 125 , 126 ]. In these instances, tackling corruption without looking at its broader context may have unintended consequences. In other cases, corruption itself had positive unintended consequences. Agricultural productivity was negatively impacted by corruption, but this was reported as a benefit for the environment as natural habitats were protected from cropland expansion and deforestation [ 101 , 127 , 128 ]. Positive policy responses to corruption were also reported, where, after corruption was identified, as in the case of food fraud, industry and government were incentivized to be more transparent, introduce better regulatory standards, and address the issues to regain consumer trust [ 129 , 130 ]. Finally, some studies reported no significant impacts of corruption in their analyses [ 63 , 71 , 131 , 132 ].

Few studies focused on potential solutions to address corruption in the food system, while many discussed the critical role of effective governance structures and processes. In terms of empirical research investigating approaches to address corruption, technological solutions were proposed, such as switching to digital food ration cards to prevent resource leakage and using blockchain to address food fraud traceability [ 133 , 134 , 135 ]. In line with seeking better approaches to monitoring corruption in the food supply chain, improved predictive modelling methods and global standardization of detecting corruption were also proposed [ 47 , 136 ]. Finally, an organizational approach to problem solving was explored, where social farming or social enterprises were effective societal organization structures for disempowering organized crime and weakening criminal control [ 137 , 138 ].

Sankey diagram identifying the flow of corruption across the food system areas and its eventual impacts. The width of each flow is proportional to the total number of concepts identified in the literature for that node, representing a salience of these concepts across the literature base. As the categories for the different nodes are not mutually exclusive the totals vary between nodes. For Node 3, the NA category represents papers that did not report on the impacts of corruption and were classified as ‘descriptive’ studies

The findings of this study emphasize the complexity of corruption in the global food system. Across the 238 included records, corruption in the food system was studied across a range of country income brackets in the past decade. Five main types of corruption were identified in the literature related to the global food system: bureaucratic corruption, fraud, bribery, organized crime, and corporate political activity. Corruption spanned across various areas of the food system and was commonly observed in policy and governance structures. A total of 155 studies reported on the impacts of corruption on the global food system, with no definitive pathway demonstrating how corruption flowed into eventual impacts. Corruption undermined food system governance and regulatory structures; threatened health, safety, and food security; led or contributed to environmental degradation, economic loss, erosion of trust, and social inequities; and decreased agricultural productivity. The impacts of corruption were nuanced, for example, in some cases corruption led to societal benefits or had no apparent effects on society. A pattern of power imbalances was identified, where community members and primary and raw material producers were disproportionately impacted by corruption, while the instigators were commonly public and private sector actors. Although few solutions were proposed, some were promising in addressing corruption in the food system, such as predictive modelling to improve detection of corruption and organizational approaches to problem solving.

Insights from findings and comparison with existing literature

Synthesizing the literature to understand corruption in the applied food system context is necessary to recognize the context-dependent variability of corruption [ 17 , 18 , 19 ]. To our knowledge, this scoping review was the first to systematically investigate corruption in the global food system. A report describing anti-corruption measures in the agricultural sector found corruption affected all levels within the sector including the input, production, processing and packaging, storage and distribution stages as well as the consumer interface [ 139 ]. Although the report does not encompass the whole food system, this report supports the finding in the current review that addressing corruption in the agricultural subsector of the food system is complex [ 139 ].

The review identified characteristics of corruption and the diverse ways in which it affects different areas of the food system. The finding that corruption in the food system was not localized to one particular income group, reinforces the inaccuracy of longstanding beliefs that corruption is a “third-world” or “developing country” problem [ 140 , 141 , 142 ]. Characterizing corruption in the food system helped to identify ‘legal’ and ‘illegal’ corruption [ 143 ], and conclude that corruption is especially present in policy and governance structures and food supply chains. Moreover, the heterogeneity in the approaches to investigating corruption in the food system identified the multidimensional nature of addressing corruption. There were no existing frameworks to guide understanding corruption in food system contexts and individual study findings were dependent on the authors’ conceptualizations of the phenomenon. This demonstrates the need to use interdisciplinary knowledge to cooperatively identify relevant solutions and holistically address corruption in the food system.

Analysis across the stakeholder categories identified a general trend showing an imbalance of power relating to the impacts of corruption. The burdens of corruption are largely being placed on more vulnerable groups, such as community members and primary food producers, while government officials and public servants, intermediaries, and business and corporate actors, are most commonly instigators of corruption (Fig.  3 ). Moreover, the identified impacts, such as social inequities, economic loss, decreased agricultural productivity, and health risks and food insecurity (among others), also disproportionately affect those with the least amount of power. By illustrating the flow of corruption in the food system (Fig.  4 ), insights into the connections between the types of corruption, areas of the food system, and the eventual impacts were uncovered. Given the widespread presence of corruption across the food system, working towards more sustainable and equitable food systems should incorporate the effects of corruption, as it may further exacerbate inequities if unaddressed [ 144 , 145 ].

Implications for research and practice

Understanding how corruption presents itself in the food system, where it exists, who is involved, and how it flows throughout the food system to its eventual impacts highlights potential areas for intervention that could support the food system transition. Given that the impacts of corruption are largely negative and there is little consideration for corruption in the existing policies and agendas for a food system transition [ 2 , 146 ], failing to integrate measures to address corruption may undermine efforts toward attaining a healthier, more equitable, food system. The evidence from this review may assist with informing and developing anti-corruption policies and programs. Since there were few studies describing proposed solutions to corruption in the food system, developing, evaluating, and reporting anti-corruption measures within the applied context is necessary [ 139 , 147 ].

The complex nature of corruption in the global food system, along with the limited number of solutions to address it, present the need for interdisciplinary and multi-sectoral approaches to developing solutions to minimize corruption. Conceptualizing corruption through a systems lens and recognizing the totality of the food system’s components and drivers may help to address the limitations of previous efforts to improve food security and nutrition [ 4 , 13 ]. A systems-informed holistic lens allows us to unpack the complexity of how corruption impacts social systems and the macro-level collective dynamics in the global food system [ 144 , 145 ].

Moreover, system theory and explorations of the perspectives relating to corruption have suggested that corruption is deployed as a moral language that shifts according to political-economic and power relations [ 141 ]. The nuanced findings from our review identifying that corruption may be interwoven in the functions and mechanisms of social and political systems, and is not bound by geographical regions or income levels, reinforces the complexity of addressing corruption. As corruption often involves a selectively applied and ‘slippery’ discourse [ 141 ], the measurement of corruption further confounds our understanding of the phenomenon. Although it might not fit conventional definitions, conceptualizing corruption as a challenge that includes ‘legal’ forms of corruption and that is widespread across the globe, may provide critical insight into unjust practices and issues relating to corruption in the global food system [ 141 , 143 , 145 , 148 ].

Strengths and limitations of the review

The review is strengthened by our use of a broad and neutral definition of corruption to inform our investigation of corruption in the global food system. The broad definition limited bias from existing perceptions of corruption and enabled an inclusive understanding of corruption. The review considered samples from low- to high-income nations across numerous geographical regions, and a wide range of study contexts and corruption types. An iterative deductive and inductive approach was used to guide the review, to maintain an understanding that is adaptive and reflective of corruption in multiple contexts.

The findings of this review are limited to what has been studied in peer-reviewed literature. Therefore, these findings represent the scope and breadth of empirical research, but are likely to exclude other essential scholarship related to defining and characterizing corruption broadly, debates related to the role of commercial entities and governance and corruption that could be applied to the area of global food systems and corruption. Beyond the academic knowledge base, grey literature may contain additional information on this topic. Many cases of corruption in the food system may be hidden and challenging to document: identifying, measuring and studying corruption is challenging and sometimes dangerous. Moreover, findings suggest there are food system areas where corruption has not been studied. For example, although a recent report by the European Commission testified that the waste sector is prone to corruption at the local level, corruption in the waste management sector was not described in the included literature [ 149 ]. Although we used data charting templates to allow for consistent reporting throughout the review, the findings of this review are subject to author bias given the nuanced nature of corruption. The scoping review was also limited to English-language articles, potentially missing relevant literature that is outside this scope.

This systematic scoping review aimed to understand the characteristics, involved actors, impacts, and empirical evidence for approaches to address corruption in the global food system. The findings from this review characterized the types of corruption in the food system and their eventual impacts, identified the actors involved, and synthesized the limited evidence for potential solutions. These findings could support the essential but often overlooked topic of corruption in global governance of food systems and support researchers and policymakers in developing, implementing, and evaluating anti-corruption measures to aid efforts to build an equitable, sustainable, and healthy food system for all.

Data availability

All data generated in this review is included in the manuscript and supplementary materials. The data source for the review consisted of articles which are available from their respective publishers.

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AD, CCA, JC and TLP acknowledge internal research support from York University. CCA acknowledges internal research support from the Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research. KML acknowledges funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research through a Health System Impact Fellowship.

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Anastassia Demeshko, Chloe Clifford Astbury, Kirsten M. Lee, Janielle Clarke & Tarra L. Penney

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Demeshko, A., Clifford Astbury, C., Lee, K.M. et al. The role of corruption in global food systems: a systematic scoping review. Global Health 20 , 48 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12992-024-01054-8

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