After Babel

After Babel

Home
Voices of Gen Z
What Parents Can Do Now
What Schools and Educators Ca…
Responses to Skeptics
Join Us
Archive
About

Responses to Skeptics

Does Social Media Use at One Time Predict Teen Depression at a Later Time?
Reviewing longitudinal evidence
 • 
Alec McClean
 and 
Jakey Lebwohl
A Flawed Absolution for Smartphones
No, the Life in Media survey did not really show that 8-year-olds benefit from owning smartphones
 • 
David Stein
Flaws in a Recent Lancet Study on Phone Use in Schools
Five problems that call into question the authors’ conclusion that phone free schools don’t improve mental health or academic performance
 • 
Jon Haidt
, 
Zach Rausch
, and 
Alec McClean
The Fundamental Flaws of The Only Meta-Analysis of Social Media Reduction Experiments (And Why It Matters), Part 3
The recent meta-analysis of social media experiments achieved a statistically insignificant result only due to a string of errors.
 • 
David Stein
The Worst Argument That Social-Media Companies Use to Defend Themselves
Why are tech leaders so adamant about pushing their creations on other people’s kids, while protecting their own?
 • 
Zach Rausch
 and 
Jon Haidt
The Fundamental Flaws of The Only Meta-Analysis of Social Media Reduction Experiments (And Why It Matters), Part 2
Fives types of errors in a recent meta-analysis bias the analysis in the same direction: that there is no effect of social media use on mental health
 • 
Zach Rausch
 and 
Jon Haidt
The Fundamental Flaws of The Only Meta-Analysis of Social Media Reduction Experiments (And Why It Matters), Part 1
A recent meta-analysis contains yet overlooks evidence that multi-week social media reduction experiments consistently improve mental health
 • 
Zach Rausch
 and 
Jon Haidt
How has mental health changed across demographic groups since 2010?
If social media is uniquely beneficial to adolescents in marginalized communities, we might expect to see their rates of anxiety and depression increase…
 • 
Jean M. Twenge
Big News: The Surgeon General Calls for a Warning Label on Social Media
Dr. Murthy is right. The evidence of widespread harm to adolescents is now strong.
 • 
Jon Haidt
 and 
Zach Rausch
Is The Gallup World Poll Reliable?
The way some researchers use the GWP can explain why they fail to find effects of digital technology on youth mental health
 • 
David Blanchflower
The Global Loss of the U-Shaped Curve of Happiness
Happiness used to be U-shaped by age, with middle age the least happy. Not anymore. Young people are now the least happy.
 • 
David Blanchflower
 and 
Alex Bryson
The Youth Rebellion Is Growing
Seven Gen Z Leaders Working to Reduce the Harms Caused by the Phone-Based Childhood
 • 
Zach Rausch
 and 
Jon Haidt
© 2025 Jonathan Haidt
Start your SubstackGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture