Thu Jul 18 2024

Titania Jordan, CMO and chief parent officer of BARK Technologies, joins the show to discuss online safety for children. I asked if online safety had improved or worsened since their last discussion. Topics discussed in this episode are Parental controls, mental health impacts, early access arguments, inappropriate content, sextortion trends, parent responsibility, and tech responsibility. Some parents give young kids smartphones without restrictions, while others delay access. Titania recommends delaying smartphones as long as possible and using locked-down phones like BARKs' if needed. We address arguments that early access prepares kids for college or helps them avoid social exclusion. We discuss mental health issues, and Titania explains impacts like lack of sleep, sedentary behavior, social comparison, and FOMO. She recommends limiting social media time if kids already have accounts. We talk about inappropriate content and how algorithms expose kids to inappropriate cont...