Press

Nine out of 10 girls follow social media accounts that make them feel less beautiful, and more than half say they can’t measure up to the beauty standards they see online. One trend fueling this pressure is “#SkinnyTok,” a growing corner of TikTok where creators glorify extreme thinness and share restrictive eating content, including “what I eat in a day” videos featuring very limited meals, calorie-counting routines, and so-called “hacks” for eating less. Check out our recent feature in WRAL on #SkinnyTok and what families and educators need to know. Read now!

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Greece Central School District is empowering students to lead the conversation on screen time, social media, and device use with #WinAtSocial. Check out what Lynn Girolamo, the district’s Digital Learning and Innovation Coach, had to say about the positive benefits they’re seeing for their entire school community in this segment and article.

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Laura Tierney, Founder and CEO of The Social Institute, was recently featured in a powerful article by the National Education Association titled “AI ‘Deepfakes’: A Disturbing Trend in School Cyberbullying.” In the piece, Laura shares her expertise on the alarming rise of A.I.-generated deepfakes, which are digitally altered images and videos that can be nearly impossible to detect, and the growing impact these harmful tools are having on students, particularly girls. Read more here!

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Laura Tierney, founder and CEO of The Social Institute, huddled up with Harrisburg Academy on the Chick2Chick podcast to talk about how schools can empower students to navigate social media and tech in positive ways. With students getting smartphones earlier and earlier, schools are looking for ways to address online distractions. Listen now!

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Following a recent AMBER Alert tied to social media, Laura joined ABC 11 to discuss built-in settings families can use to protect their privacy—like making all accounts private and turning off location sharing across different apps. Read now!

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