The Social Institute is proud to announce that Founder and CEO Laura Tierney has been named to Inc.’s 2026 Female Founders 500, an annual list honoring the most dynamic women business leaders in the United States. The honor recognizes founders whose bold ideas, resilience, and execution are shaping the future of their industries. Read more here.
PBS News shares an AP Report about the rise of deepfake cyberbullying and how it poses a growing problem for schools. In the article, Laura Tierney, founder and CEO of The Social Institute, shares the SHIELD Method, a strategy educators can equip their students with to know what to do when they encounter deepfake, A.I.-generated, and explicit content. Read now on PBS News >>
Earlier this fall, two boys were charged after creating A.I.-generated nudes of two of their classmates, as what is believed to be the first prosecution stemming from a new state law that addresses the creation of explicit A.I.-generated content. In response, Laura Tierney, founder and CEO of The Social Institute, huddled with AP News to provide some advice on what students and educators should do when they are impacted by A.I.-generated deepfakes. Read now on APNews.com >>
When it comes to Sora, the A.I. video generator made by OpenAI, Laura Tierney, founder and CEO of The Social Institute, encourages huddling, rather than focusing on blocking or monitoring. Savvy students will often find a way onto apps if they’re determined, so keeping conversations open with students is the best way to make sure they’re navigating A.I., social media, and tech in safe and positive ways. Learn more on Parents.com.
The Journal of the American Medical Association recently published the results from the largest long-term study of brain development on adolescents in the U.S., which found that students who spend more time on social media, between the ages of 9 and 13, perform worse on tests of reading, memory, and language. Laura Tierney huddled with ABC 11 news to provide strategies for equipping students to strike a balance with their time on tech to drive distraction-free learning. Watch now.