The Center for Digital Wellbeing is a NOT-FOR-PROFIT ORGANIZATION.
We are dedicated to researching and understanding the holistic impact of digital technologies in people’s lives and are committed to advocating, educating, and empowering others to be well in our digitally mediated world.
Beginning with a global movement around practicing #SafeSocial and social media’s impact on mental health, our work has expanded to include other forms of digital wellbeing such as: privacy and security, digitally-related policy, digital literacy, generative AI and automation, screen use, online gaming, addiction, VR and AR, accessibility, digital citizenship, consumerism, and more.
We focus on research and advocacy, education, and empowerment!
Mission
We are dedicated to enhancing the holistic wellbeing of people in the digital age. Our mission is to educate, empower, and advocate for an informed use of technology that enhances, rather than detracts from [mental, physical, spiritual, financial, intellectual, social] wellbeing. Technology should support our shared humanity.
VISON
We envision a world where individuals are equipped with the knowledge, support, and tools to harness the benefits of technology responsibly, leading to healthier, more connected, and empowered communities. We will set the standard for understanding and navigating the complex digital landscape and our research, education, and advocacy-support initiatives will be used globally by changemakers in the field of digital wellbeing.
We Are ACCESSIBLE
We strive to make our information understandable for all. Academic research can get pretty wordy, pretty quickly. We want all people to share in the knowledge of our pursuits.
We Are INCLUSIVE &Promote Belonging
We recognize and honour the experiences of diverse members of our community. We never communicate in ways that make people feel excluded since these issues are universal.
We Are GENEROUS
We believe this knowledge should be available to everyone. Though we will charge for some forms of delivery, we will be generous with sharing what we know to help all.
We Are ACTION-ORIENTED
We give people tools, strategies, or next steps to help be part of the solution. We can’t have us being the only ones spreading this message. We must all get to work.
We Are COMMUNITY-MINDED
We want to build a strong community of like-minded people who will help us spread the message of #SafeSocial. We are concerned with the well-being of others, period.
We Are HOPEFUL
We believe that there is a brighter future than what we are experiencing today and we are committed to making that future come to life.
HOW WE GOT STARTED
#SafeSocial was created by Bailey Parnell, really beginning in 2015 when she worked in Student Affairs at Ryerson University. At this time, scandalous news articles were coming out saying “social media might cause depression in youth”. At the same time, Bailey was working as a social media specialist, and asking youth to come be on social media with her. This sparked her journey looking into social media’s impact on mental health, which became all-out professional digital well-being research and campaigns within the university.
In her words, “if she was going to be doing this research anyways, she may as well get a degree from it.” Continuing her work in the space, Bailey then started her part-time Masters research in 2016 looking into social media and mental health in the Communications and Culture program at Ryerson University.
In 2017, Bailey was asked to give a TEDx talk on all she had learned and created, both professionally and academically, on #SafeSocial. The TEDx Talk, titled “Is Social Media Hurting Your Mental Health?”, now has nearly 2 million views and is growing rapidly every day. The TEDx talk and related news events sparked a worldwide interest in Bailey’s work.Speaking & Workshops
After the TEDx talk, Bailey developed our signature 5 Steps Towards #SafeSocial™ and has been all over the world sharing her research and strategies with youth, parents, educators, and others, including being invited to the World Youth Forum in Egypt. It is through these engagements that Bailey heard from people and saw the global need for this organization to exist – a one-stop-shop for all information on #SafeSocial.
As technology becomes more pervasive, the need for digital wellbeing grows to include more than just social media. Our organization has since evolved to cover the holistic impact of digital technologies as the Center for Digital Wellbeing.
ABOUT THE FOUNDER
Bailey Parnell is the Founder & CEO of SkillsCamp and was named one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women. Bailey is a TEDx speaker with nearly 2 million views, an award-winning digital marketer, and a businesswoman with a talent for helping people develop the skills they need for success. Her work and expertise have been featured in Forbes, CBC, FOX News, Flare Magazine, and more.
Bailey’s company SkillsCamp is a soft skills training company that works with businesses and educational institutions to help their staff and students develop the essential skills needed for personal and professional success – skills like personal branding, stress-management, emotional intelligence, and more. Before this, she built up her career bringing digital student engagement to Canadian higher education through her work at Ryerson University – models that have since been shared globally.
Bailey frequently speaks about social media and mental health, soft skills, intergenerational understanding, and being a woman in business. She guest lectured her first MBA class at 21 and has since spoken to over 100K people.
Bailey did her Masters in Communications and Culture, part-time at Ryerson University with research focused on social media’s impact on mental health, the results of which have been shared at the World Youth Forum in Egypt and created the basis for her signature 5 Steps Towards #SafeSocial. She is also an honors graduate of the RTA School of Media majoring in Media Production and double-minoring in News Studies and English.
Previously, she has worked in social media marketing at CBC and Bell Media; assisted instructors in Seneca College’s Social Media: Graduate Certificate Program; taught English abroad, and has worked as a local news reporter on Rogers TV.Though the rest of her family is from Nova Scotia, she was born and raised in Brampton, Ontario, and now lives in Toronto. As technology becomes more pervasive, the need for digital wellbeing grows to include more than just social media. Our organization has since evolved to cover the holistic impact of digital technologies as the Center for Digital Wellbeing.
MEDIA & PRESS
we love talking to the media about digital wellbeing If for some reason the request link below isn’t working, you can reach us at jess@centerfordigitalwellbeing.org
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