media habit essay

The New York Times

The learning network | every waking minute examining personal media habits.

Every Waking Minute? Examining Personal Media Habits

Teaching ideas based on New York Times content.

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Overview | What are the implications of a new study showing that kids use electronic devices virtually all the time? In this lesson, students take a close look at their own media use over time, identify any detrimental habits, then develop personal plans and put them into action. They then write and deliver persuasive speeches on the media and technology topic of their choice.

Materials | Student journals, copies of the handout, chart paper/graph-making software, a computer with Internet access and projector, envelopes

Warm-Up | Begin by brainstorming with students what they remember about their lives in 2005. To get their ideas flowing, ask students what grade they were in or how old they were, what they did for fun and what their favorite activities and prized possessions were.

When the conversation lands on technology and media like the Internet, video games and cell phone use, tell them that a new study has revealed how media use as a whole has changed since 2005 among kids aged 8 to 18. Give them five minutes to write in their journals about what these changes might be.

When they are finished, distribute copies of the Measuring Your Media survey (PDF) for them to complete. As they share their answers, tabulate them and create a bar graph on the board or chart paper. Or, use software to create graphs or charts depicting their collective media product use in 2005 and 2010 and the time spent using media in 2005 and 2010. (If necessary, review how to create surveys and graphs .)

Ask for three volunteers whose charts are not virtually identical to reproduce their own pie charts on the board. Have other students discuss which chart probably best represents their age group’s reasons for using media and why.

To finish the warm-up, have students compare the speculations they wrote in their notebooks/journals with the charts on display and share what surprised—or didn’t surprise—them. (You might also choose to have students answer our related Student Opinion question , “How Much Time Do You Spend ‘Consuming Media’ Every Day?,” or read what other students have written there.)

Related | In an article on a recent study about kids’ media use, “If Your Kids are Awake, They’re Probably Online,” Tamar Lewin writes:

The average young American now spends practically every waking minute — except for the time in school — using a smartphone, computer, television or other electronic device, according to a new study from the Kaiser Family Foundation. […] The study’s findings shocked its authors, who had concluded in 2005 that use could not possibly grow further, and confirmed the fears of many parents whose children are constantly tethered to media devices. It found, moreover, that heavy media use is associated with several negatives, including behavior problems and lower grades.

Read the entire article with your class, using the questions below.

Questions | For discussion and reading comprehension:

• How does the article explain how young people are able to “pack on average nearly 11 hours of media content” into seven and a half hours?
• How do heavy media users differ from their peers who use media less often when it comes to exercise, grades, getting along with others, and happiness at school? What conflicting studies or other factors make these statistics debatable?
• What media devices and Web sites have come along or become more popular since the study was last conducted?
• What does Dr. Michael Rich suggest parents do regarding their children’s media use?
• Do you think the range of ages of the kids (8 to 18) in the study is the best choice? If not, what should it have been? Why?

RELATED RESOURCES

From the learning network.

• Student Opinion: How Much Time Do You Spend ‘Consuming Media’ Every Day?
• Lesson: Pay Attention, Please!
• Lesson: Read, Read Revolution

From NYTimes.com

• Idea of the Day Blog: “The Age of External Knowledge”
• Article: “Forget Gum. Walking and Using Phone is Risky”
• Week in Review: “The Children of Cyberspace”

Around the Web

• Kaiser Family Foundation
• Edge: “How is the Internet Changing the Way You Think?”
• National Institute on Media and the Family: Hot Topics

Activity | Instruct students to keep track of their actual use of all media and technology by keeping a 24-hour time diary for several days or even a week.

You might want to ensure that they include different types of “typical” days, like weekends, days when they are involved in sports or other activities, days when they spend a bit of time at home, etc. Tell them that accuracy is essential for this activity to be meaningful.

After the time period is up, invite students to compare their findings to the estimates they initially made on the Measuring Your Media survey.

Display the graphic “Raised on Screens” and have students compare their media use against the statistics. Ask students what they think the graphs will look like five years from now and explain why.

Have students reflect on their own media use, perhaps using a “fishbowl” format, in which two or three students speak while everyone else listens. Questions might include the following:

• Do you identify with any of the people or situations from the Times article “If Your Kids Are Awake, They’re Probably Online”?
• How do you think the Internet has affected your patience and attention span?
• How often do you check for text messages, your Facebook account, email, etc.?
• Do you do these things when you shouldn’t, like during class or dinner, or while crossing the street or driving ? Do you ever feel like you can’t stop yourself from doing these things? If so, why?
• If you are online doing something for a school assignment, what other Web sites do you have open in other browser windows? Why?
• When you are busy with something else and a friend sends you a message, do you feel you must respond immediately?
• What happens if you wait too long to respond? How long is “too long”?
• How has your use of media and technology affected your relationships? Do you spend less time on the telephone and face to face? Does talking in person sometimes feel awkward or unnatural?
• Do you ever long for more privacy or feel too exposed online ?
• Do you think the Internet and contemporary technology make it harder for people to read long passages and memorize information? Do you think our culture is starting to place less value on these skills?
• Do you sense that your use of media and technology is changing the way you think and process information? If so, how?
• Do you think your use of media and technology is problematic for you in any way, or do you think concerns are overblown?

Give students time to reflect independently as well as in conversation with peers.

Finally, have students use what they have learned to determine ways they should limit or change their use of media and technology. Suggestions include the following:

• Setting overall time limits
• Making greater efforts to seeing friends in person
• Increasing time doing exercise or going outside
• Setting specific parameters (e.g. using no more than 2 devices/applications at a time; shutting down a certain period of time before sleeping; not using certain technologies in bed, in the car or at the dinner table; doing homework uninterrupted, etc.)
• Switching from digital to print equivalents, like reading a print newspaper or magazine
• Turning down headphone volume
• Quitting one thing, like Facebook or a specific video game

Students write plans of action for themselves and make two copies. Tell them to keep one copy to carry with them or to post in a prominent place, like their bedroom wall or bathroom mirror, and one to place in a sealed envelope with their name written on the front.

Collect the envelopes, then redistribute them a month from now. Then, have students revisit their plans to see whether they followed them, why or why not, how they might get back on track and how they should make further changes. They should write down their altered plans on the original sheets. After they return the revised plans to the envelopes, collect them again and repeat this activity after another month or two has passed.

At each point, invite students to reflect on how the changes have affected them or how hard it is to make these changes, and why.

Going Further | Give students additional copies of the “Measuring Your Media” survey to be completed by friends and family members in other age groups. Have students use the completed surveys to make additional graphs to show each group’s media use.

Additionally or alternatively, students use their findings and the information found in the article “Children of Cyberspace: Old Fogies by Their 20s,” to develop a persuasive speech about a media product or activity. They should focus on a specific age group or on a real person or group of people (like school administrators, the parent association, etc.) and should be permitted to choose a “pro” or “con” position on the topic they selected. Students might also display relevant props, visuals or Web sites during their speeches.

Have students practice their speeches on each other and, if possible, actually deliver them to the intended audience. Ask the listeners to complete a questionnaire on whether they were persuaded by the speech and may change their own behaviors and habits as a result. Students report this information to the class.

Other ways to go further:

Personal Writing: Students who secretly – or not so secretly – wish they could stop using a certain media product, like Facebook , write a personal essay about it. (Our Student Opinion question about quitting Facebook can be a starting prompt.) Encourage them to speculate what their life or the world would be like without it and to tell why they continue to use the device or service.

Journalism: Students interview older people about life before cell and smartphones, the Internet, email, MP3 files, e-book readers, etc., asking: What is better about your life today as a result of new technologies? What is worse? Do you think people have changed as a result? Are there some technologies you purposely avoid? Why? Have students write articles to tell what they learned.

Debate/Critical Thinking: Is the ability to find information equal in importance and value to having actual knowledge? Hold a debate in which students argue one side or the other, then respond to one another’s assertions.

Research and Media Skills: Students each take on a broad topic, like “nutrition” or “the American Civil War,” then find 10 Web sites devoted to that subject. Ask: Which seem the most legitimate? How do you define “legitimate”? What person or group is responsible for each site? How can you check that the author is an expert? Did you find the same or similar information on each site? Have students give a “tour” of each site for the class, ranking them from best to worst, explaining their answers as they show each site.

Standards | From McREL , for Grades 6-12:

Language Arts 1. Uses the general skills and strategies of the writing process. 2. Uses the stylistic and rhetorical aspects of writing. 3. Uses grammatical and mechanical conventions in written compositions. 4. Gathers and uses information for research purposes. 5. Uses the general skills and strategies of the reading process. 7. Uses reading skills and strategies to interpret a variety of informational texts 8. Uses listening and speaking strategies for different purposes. 9. Uses viewing skills and strategies to understand and interpret visual media. 10. Understands the characteristics and components of the media.

Life Skills: Thinking and Reasoning 1. Understands and applies the basic principles of presenting an argument. 2. Understands and applies basic principles of logic and reasoning. 3. Effectively uses mental processes that are based on identifying similarities and differences.

Life Skills: Self-Regulation 1. Sets and manages goals. 2. Performs self-appraisal. 3. Considers risks. 4. Demonstrates perseverance. 5. Maintains a healthy self-concept. 6. Restrains impulsivity.

Life Skills: Life Work 6. Makes effective use of basic life skills.

Technology 3. Understands the relationships among science, technology, society,and the individual. 6. Understands the nature and uses of different forms of technology.

Behavioral Studies 1. Understands that group and cultural influences contribute to human development, identity and behavior. 2. Understands various meanings of social group, general implications of group membership and different ways that groups function. 3. Understands that interactions among learning, inheritance and physical development affect human behavior. 4. Understands conflict, cooperation and interdependence among individuals, groups and institutions.

Physical Education 3. Understands the benefits and costs associated with participation in physical activity 4. Understands how to monitor and maintain a health-enhancing level of physical fitness. 5. Understands the social and personal responsibility associated with participation in physical activity.

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some great lesson plans with activities from the NYTIMES.CO,M website

Thank you! I will certainly use this lesson plan!

What's Next

Patterns of News Consumption in a High-Choice Media Environment pp 63–85 Cite as

News Consumption Patterns Then and Now: From Traditional Media Repertoires to New Ways of Consuming News

• Raluca Buturoiu 6 ,
• Nicoleta Corbu 6 &
• Mădălina Boțan 6  
• First Online: 07 October 2023

139 Accesses

Part of the book series: Springer Studies in Media and Political Communication ((SSMPC))

This chapter focuses on the changing patterns of information consumption in a high-choice media environment. By adopting a media repertoires approach, Buturoiu, Corbu and Boţan primarily delve into news consumption profiles, aiming to provide insights into the ways people consume news within the current media landscape. Previous studies show diverse patterns of news consumption. These variations depend not only on contextual differences but also on methodologies employed by researchers to measure news consumption patterns. Furthermore, the authors explore the concept of “media diets” and propose a normative perspective on what a healthy media diet is. Through this examination, the chapter provides valuable insights into the current media consumption patterns and contributes to the understanding of patterns of information consumption within the contemporary media landscape.

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Buturoiu, R., Corbu, N., Boțan, M. (2023). News Consumption Patterns Then and Now: From Traditional Media Repertoires to New Ways of Consuming News. In: Patterns of News Consumption in a High-Choice Media Environment. Springer Studies in Media and Political Communication. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-41954-6_5

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The Millennial Mindset: Understanding a Generation's Values and Media Habits

Posted on November 17, 2023 by Media Culture

Topics: Industry + Audience , Generational Marketing

Millennials, born between 1981 and 1996, represent about 22% of the U.S. population, making them a pivotal demographic for advertisers. This article delves into the complexities of millennial life, including their demographics, values, media consumption patterns, and how these factors combine to shape their generational identity.

Understanding millennials involves more than just examining statistics. It requires understanding their lived experiences, the social and technological changes that have influenced their perspectives, and the values that drive their decisions. For businesses and advertisers, tapping into the millennial mindset is essential for developing effective marketing strategies.

In the following sections, we will explore different aspects of the millennial generation, including their demographic makeup and values, their media habits, and their expectations in the workplace. This will provide a comprehensive understanding of what it means to be a millennial in today's world.

For additional detail, and for a full list of sources, please make sure to download the full report: Millennials in Focus: Tech-Savvy, Progressive, and Steering the Media Landscape .

/// Millennial Demographics and Lifestyle

Millennials, aged 26 to 41 in 2022, are a diverse and influential group. They are the second-most ethnically diverse generation, with significant representation from various racial and ethnic backgrounds. Geographically, millennials have a pronounced presence in urban centers such as Los Angeles, Dallas-Fort Worth, and San Francisco.

Educationally, millennials have achieved new heights. Nearly 40% hold a college degree, surpassing the educational attainment levels of prior generations. However, this achievement comes with its share of challenges. Financially, millennials have a median wealth of $58K, lagging behind older generations and highlighting the economic struggles many face. Despite comprising the majority of the workforce, a significant number live paycheck to paycheck, causing financial insecurity to be a prevailing concern.

In terms of lifestyle, millennials are redefining traditional life milestones. Marriage and family formation are happening later compared to previous generations, with around 47% being married and many choosing to delay or forego parenthood. This shift reflects a broader trend in millennials' approach to life, emphasizing personal growth, career development, and financial stability over more conventional life paths.

/// Values and Aspirations

Millennials embody a set of evolving values and aspirations that greatly influence their choices and behaviors. This generation highly values authority, achievement, and influence, demonstrating a strong desire for control, success, and recognition.

When it comes to authority, millennials desire to be in charge and direct others. This aligns with their tendency to be decisive, confident, and solution-oriented. Achievement is closely tied to their self-image. Millennials often seek success and the admiration of others, possessing ambition and determination as distinguishing attributes. Influence, in terms of acquiring wealth and social status, reflects their inclination towards accumulating material possessions and gaining social power.

These values translate into lifestyle choices and aspirations. Millennials are motivated by living an exciting life, receiving recognition from their peers, and finding romantic love. They describe themselves as indulgent, living life to the fullest, and without boundaries. This quest for excitement and recognition is evident in their hobbies, which include gaming, online gambling, and athletic pursuits.

Millennials' values and aspirations are also manifested in their professional lives. They seek careers that not only offer financial rewards, but also opportunities for personal growth, recognition, and alignment with their ethical standards. Their values guide their consumer behavior, shaping their preferences for media, technology, and the brands they associate with.

/// Media Consumption Patterns

Millennials are known for being tech-savvy, and their media consumption patterns reflect this. As digital natives, they have grown up in an era of rapid technological advancements and have seamlessly integrated digital media into their daily lives.

When it comes to social media, millennials are significant users. Platforms like Facebook and YouTube are among their favorites, but they also have higher usage rates for platforms like Snapchat and Reddit. Their engagement with social media is multifaceted – they not only consume content but also actively participate in social commerce, trusting influencers and often turning to platforms for new ideas and recommendations.

Gaming is another significant area of media consumption for millennials. This generation frequently engages in video gaming, showing a preference for genres like action/adventure and fighting games. They are not just passive players; many also engage in livestreaming their gameplay, indicating a deep integration of gaming into their social and recreational activities.

Streaming services and podcasts are also popular among millennials, who lead in Connected TV (CTV) viewership and are frequent podcast listeners compared to other generations. Their preferences for streaming platforms and podcast genres indicate their diverse interests and the importance of on-demand, customizable content in their media consumption.

Related: Decoding Millennials: Strategies for Effective Media Placement and Advertising

/// The Impact of Technology

The relationship between millennials and technology is intricate, shaping various aspects of their lives. As early adopters, millennials have integrated technology into their daily routines, work, and social interactions.

Millennials extensively use technology for multiple purposes, such as seeking health information and entertainment. Smartphones are their preferred device for communication, photography or videography, and navigation. They are also enthusiastic consumers of online video content, with interests ranging from gaming to education. Popular music and photo apps reflect their desire for creative expression and connectivity.

Nevertheless, the impact of technology on millennials' mental health is a double-edged sword. While technology facilitates connections and access to information, it also has negative implications. Many millennials report adverse effects on mental health due to social media, affecting self-esteem and body image. This generation faces the challenges of a connected world, balancing the benefits of technology with its impact on mental well-being.

/// Political and Social Views

Millennials are politically and socially conscious, holding nuanced views that tend to align with progressive ideals. Their opinions on issues like immigration, gun control, LGBT rights, climate change, systemic racism, and economic inequality reflect a generation deeply engaged with the societal challenges of their time.

This generation leans toward independent political affiliations but shows a strong progressive stance on key issues. They support stricter gun control measures and advocate for LGBT rights. The vast majority acknowledges the human contribution to climate change and views economic inequality as a pressing concern. These views indicate a generation that is not only aware of global and societal issues but also actively seeks change and justice.

Millennials are often at the forefront of social justice movements, using their collective voice to advocate for change. This activism is not just confined to social media; it extends to their consumer behavior and career choices, where they align themselves with brands and organizations that reflect their values.

/// Mental Health and the Workplace

The mental health of millennials in the workplace has become an increasingly important topic. This generation has experienced unique challenges, including the economic fallout of the Great Recession and the global pandemic, which have impacted their mental well-being.

Millennials report moderate levels of mental health issues, with work burnout and pandemic-related stress being notable factors. The prevalence of burnout among millennials is significant, with nearly half feeling burned out due to the intensity and demands of their work environments. This has led to a notable turnover in organizations, as many millennials are leaving jobs due to workload pressure.

Despite growing awareness and efforts by employers to focus on mental health, many millennials feel that these initiatives have not yet made a meaningful impact. There remains a stigma around discussing mental health challenges in the workplace, with a considerable proportion of millennials feeling uncomfortable speaking openly about stress or anxiety with their managers. This disconnect highlights the need for more effective mental health support and open communication in work environments.

Millennials' desire for work-life balance and flexible working models reflects their response to these mental health challenges. Hybrid and remote work arrangements are highly valued, seen as ways to alleviate stress and improve overall well-being.

/// Financial Anxiety and Adaptation

Financial anxiety is a defining characteristic of the millennial generation. Despite being the most educated generation, many millennials find themselves grappling with economic instability, largely influenced by the lingering effects of the Great Recession and exacerbated by the recent global pandemic.

A significant number of millennials, almost half, live paycheck to paycheck, expressing concerns about their ability to cover expenses. This financial insecurity is further highlighted by their lack of confidence in being able to retire comfortably. The rising cost of living, including housing, transportation, and bills, remains their top concern, reflecting the ongoing struggle to achieve financial stability.

In response to these challenges, millennials are redefining their approach to work and income. Many have embraced side jobs or part-time roles in addition to their primary employment. Although taken on primarily for financial reasons, these side jobs also serve as a platform for millennials to develop new skills, explore entrepreneurial ventures, and tap into their diverse interests.

The trend towards flexible and hybrid working models is also partly driven by financial considerations. Remote work allows millennials to save on commuting and other related expenses. Some are even relocating to less expensive cities, taking advantage of the flexibility offered by remote work arrangements.

/// Marketing to Millennials

Successfully marketing to millennials requires an understanding of their unique characteristics and preferences. This generation, marked by its digital savvy, diverse values, and financial mindfulness, demands a different approach from advertisers and brands.

First and foremost, digital presence is crucial. Millennials are heavy users of social media and online platforms, making digital marketing strategies essential. However, it's not just about being online; it's about creating content that resonates. This includes authentic, value-driven messaging that aligns with their social and ethical standards. Influencer marketing can be particularly effective, as millennials trust and value recommendations from peers and figures they admire.

Secondly, millennials appreciate brands that offer more than just products. They seek brands that align with their values, particularly around social responsibility and environmental sustainability. Therefore, companies need to demonstrate genuine commitment to these issues, not just in their products but also in their operations and corporate culture.

Price sensitivity is another critical aspect. Due to their financial limitations, millennials are attracted to brands that offer good value. Engaging this demographic can be achieved through loyalty programs, discounts, and promotions. Blending online and in-store shopping experiences can also cater to their desire for convenience and experiential shopping.

Personalization is also significant. Millennials appreciate a personalized approach that recognizes their individual preferences and needs. By utilizing data analytics to tailor marketing messages and offers, engagement with this group can be significantly enhanced.

In summary, marketing to millennials means embracing digital platforms, aligning with their values, being sensitive to their financial situation, and offering a personalized experience.

/// Conclusion

This article has explored the multifaceted nature of the millennial generation, including their demographic traits, values, media consumption patterns, relationship with technology, political and social views, mental health challenges, financial anxieties, and implications for marketing strategies.

Millennials, shaped by technological advancements, economic fluctuations, and social movements, stand out for their diversity, adaptability, and digital fluency. Their decision-making and lifestyles are influenced by a blend of ambition, authority, and a desire for recognition. They favor media platforms that offer digital interactivity, varied content, and the freedom to consume media on their terms.

Technology has profoundly impacted millennials, offering both opportunities for connection and challenges to their mental health. They are a conscious and progressive generation, advocating for change and aligning their consumer behaviors with their beliefs.

Millennials' experiences in the workplace, particularly concerning mental health and work-life balance, reflect broader societal shifts. Financial anxiety remains a pervasive theme, influencing their career choices and lifestyle decisions.

Understanding millennials is essential for advertisers. Engaging this generation requires a strategy that is digital, value-driven, financially considerate, and personalized. As we progress, leveraging insights about millennials remains key to forging meaningful connections and enduring relationships with this influential demographic.

Interested in effectively engaging the millennial audience? Reach out to Media Culture for strategic solutions that connect and resonate with this key demographic, turning insights into impactful marketing campaigns.

For deeper insights and data into marketing to Millennial audiences, download our comprehensive Audience Insights Report below.

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Social Networking

How your social media habits are damaging your relationships, are your social media activities causing real-life problems.

Posted August 9, 2023 | Reviewed by Davia Sills

• Individuals are spending more time than ever on screens and electronic devices.
• How people engage in social media can negatively impact real-life relationships with themselves and others.
• It's important to take steps to manage one's social media engagement and care for important relationships.

We’ve all participated in or witnessed social disconnection in action… people gathered together, with gazes fixed on screens rather than interacting with one another. Screens and social media have become a part of everyday life. Social media , at its best, has provided us with many ways to connect, interact and expand our social networks exponentially. In 2022, on average, people spent 152 minutes a day on social networking … slightly higher than the previous year’s 147-minute average.

Clearly, social media is on the rise. Not just how much, but where, when, and how we engage in social media could be negatively impacting our real-life relationships. Our relationships matter. Our deep connections and close social and romantic relationships with others are key to our happiness and longevity.

What’s the problem?

Though social media has become a part of our regular lives, in terms of our awareness of and our ability to manage the impacts of social media on our relationships—our relationships with the people in our lives and with ourselves—we have some catching up to do.

“Social Media Use and Its Impact on Relationships and Emotions” (Christensen, Spencer Palmer), a 2018 Brigham Young University study , found that: “the more time an individual spent on social media, the more likely they were to experience a negative impact on their overall emotional well-being and a decreased quality in their relationships.” The study also found that social media use negatively impacted interpersonal relationships due to: “distraction, irritation, and decreased quality time with their significant other in offline settings” and that participants reported increased “frustration, depression , and social comparison” related to their engagement in social media.

Driving intimate partner disconnection

According to a 2019 Pew Research Center study , 51 percent of people in a committed relationship reported that their partner is: “often or sometimes distracted by their cellphone while they are trying to have a conversation with them, and 4 in 10 say they are at least sometimes bothered by the amount of time their partner spends on their mobile device.”

Besides the disconnection resulting from screen distractions, partners can often feel threatened by real or imagined online third parties, including rekindled connections to former partners, habitual engagement with social media influencers, and habitual use of online pornography . These forms of engagement can lead to insecurities, an erosion of trust, and relationship breakdowns.

Feelings of low self-worth

Although it is not unheard of for people to share their struggles and hard times on their social media platforms, most people present an upbeat, curated—and sometimes highly filtered and photoshopped—that is to say, unrealistic—version of their lives to their online followers. “The Effects of Active Social Media Engagement with Peers on Body Image in Young Women” by Jacqueline Hogue and Jennifer S Mills, a 2019 York University body image study , concluded that comparisons “may lead to increased body concerns in young women.” When we compare ourselves to people with out-of-reach lifestyles, career success, beauty, or wealth, these comparisons can lead to feelings of low self-esteem and hopelessness.

It is important that we build awareness of how our social media habits impact our relationships—with ourselves and the people we care about—and that we take steps to manage and take care of our time, our energy, and our real-life relationships.

7 steps to creating healthier social media habits

If your online life is negatively impacting your relationships…

Listen to what the people in your life are saying to you about your social media habits. Observe their reactions to your decreased interactions.

Build awareness about your social media habits and engagement. Make an effort to track the amount of time you spend online for a week.

Create healthy boundaries around your online activities if you find you are spending too much time on social media. Scheduling brief times throughout the day to engage in social media and silencing notifications from social media apps could be a healthy first step in curbing over-engagement.

Put some distance between you and your devices daily. Go out for dinner, watch a movie, take a walk, or meet up with friends and leave your devices behind.

Prioritize your real-life relationships. Make an effort to stay mindful of how your actions and presence impact other people, and be engaged in person with friends, colleagues, and family members.

Unfollow unhealthy, unrealistic, attention -seeking social media influencers. Social media “models” and lifestyle influencers often present a false sense of who they are and set unrealistic goals and aspirations that can negatively impact your sense of self-worth or the self-worth of your partner.

Seek the help of a mental health professional if your social media engagement has led to feelings of low self-worth or depression or if your social media usage has become unmanageable.

Monica Vermani, C. Psych., is a clinical psychologist specializing in the treatment of trauma, stress, mood and anxiety disorders, and the author of A Deeper Wellness .

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The Relationship Between Social Media Use and Sleep Quality among Undergraduate Students

Renee garett.

1 ElevateU, Los Angeles, CA USA

2 University of California Institute for Prediction Technology (UCIPT), Department of Family Medicine, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90024, USA

Sean D. Young

Contact: ude.alcu.tendem@uilmas (310)794-6049

Contact: ude.alcu.tendem@gnuoyds (310)794-8530

Insufficient sleep is a growing health problem among University students, especially for freshmen during their first quarter/semester of college. Little research has studied how social media technologies impact sleep quality among college students. This study aims to determine the relationship between social media use and sleep quality among freshman undergraduates during their first quarter in college. Specifically, we explored whether variations in Twitter use across the time of day and day of the week would be associated with self-reported sleep quality. We conducted a study of Freshman Twitter-using students (N = 197) over their first quarter of college, between October to December of 2015. We collected students’ tweets, labeled the content of the tweets according to different emotional states, and gave theme weekly surveys on sleep quality. Tweeting more frequently on weekday late nights was associated with lower sleep quality (β = −0.937, SE = 0.352); tweeting more frequently on weekday evenings was associated with better quality sleep (β = 0.189, SE = 0.097). Tweets during the weekday that were labeled related to the emotion of fear were associated with lower sleep quality (β = −0.302, SE = 0.131). Results suggest that social media use is associated with sleep quality among students. Results provide can be used to inform future interventions to improve sleep quality among college students.

Introduction

Insufficient sleep is an increasingly important health problem in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), greater than 30% of adult Americans get an insufficient quantity of sleep, defined as less than seven hours of sleep per night ( Center for Disease Control (CDC), 2013 ). Americans recognize this problem, with greater than 35% of adults reporting their quality of sleep as “poor” or “only fair” ( National Sleep Foundation, 2014 ). To address the growing sleep epidemic, research is needed on more recent factors that might affect sleep deprivation, such as the relationship between sleep and new technologies like social media.

At the root of the poor sleep epidemic are chronic issues rather than occasional aberrant nights of acute sleep deprivation ( Center for Disease Control (CDC), 2013 ). The consequences of chronic sleep problems can be severe ( Banks & Dinges, 2007 ). Insufficient sleep causes a variety of health problems, including an increased likelihood for accidents ( Committee on Sleep Medicine and Research & Board on Health Sciences Policy, 2006 ), increased rates of obesity/diabetes ( Knutson, Spiegel, Penev, & Cauter, 2007 ), increased age-related chronic problems ( Spiegel, Leproult, & Van Cauter, 1999 ), and decreased cognitive capacity ( Harrison & Horne, 2000 ).

University students, especially freshmen students, are especially impacted by the sleep epidemic ( Jensen, 2003 ). In one study, more than 76% of university students reported occasional sleep problems ( Vail-Smith, Felts, & Becker, 2009 ), and in a series of studies 12% to 42% of students reported regular poor sleep quality ( Buboltz Jr, Brown, & Soper, 2001 ; Carney, Edinger, Meyer, Lindman, & Istre, 2006 ; Vail-Smith et al., 2009 ). Freshmen students, in addition to learning how to cope with academic stress, must also adapt to a new environment while transitioning into young adulthood ( Richter, 2015 ; Terenzini et al., 1994 ). Outside of this, over the past decade there has been a large increase in the share of young adults using social media ( Perrin, 2015 ), and previous studies have shown that greater social media use is associated with lower stress levels ( Hampton, Rainie, Lu, Shin, & Purcell, 2015 ).

Measuring how young adults communicate their sleep habits on social media, and inversely how their social media habits are related to the quality of their sleep, is a growing field of research. Studies over the past decade have linked electronic media use by young adults with reduced total sleep time and sleep quality ( Cain & Gradisar, 2010 ). More recently, studies have linked higher rates of social media use to greater sleep disturbance ( Levenson, Shensa, Sidani, Colditz, & Primack, 2016 ) and obsessive Facebook checking (i.e., a task requiring less cognitive effort) to lower quality sleep ( Mark, Wang, Niiya, & Reich, 2016 ). Higher daily use of texting among freshmen has also been linked to greater sleep problems ( Murdock, 2013 ). Additionally, research focusing on Twitter use among the general population has shown that tweet sentiment varies throughout out the day as a consequence of people’s sleep and circadian rhythm ( Golder & Macy, 2011 ). Specifically, positive affectivity on Twitter is higher on weekdays and that it peaks as people wake up before gradually decreasing throughout the day ( Golder & Macy, 2011 ).

In this study, we sought to determine the relationship between quality of sleep for freshmen students and their patterns of social media use during their first quarter in college. Specifically, the study explored how variations in Twitter activity across the time of day and day of the week were associated with self-reported quality of sleep.

Freshmen students at the beginning of academic year 2015 were recruited (in-person and through Facebook advertisements) from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Recruitment began on September 14 th and ended on October 23 rd (the fourth week of class). To qualify for the study, students had to be active Twitter users, tweeting at least three times a week.

Participants completed a short online survey each week that measured students’ stress levels, methods of dealing with stress, and emotional levels. Subjects were provided $5 (U.S.) for each completed survey and an additional $5 if all surveys were completed in a month (total possible compensation: $75). This money was disbursed as Amazon gift cards post-study.

The UCLA Institutional Review Board approved the study protocol. Prior to obtaining in-person consent, participants were provided with oral/written descriptions of the protocol. Additional inclusion criteria stated that students must be: a freshman/first-year transfer, in their first quarter, and younger than 21.

Demographics

The first survey included a questionnaire on gender, race/ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, state/country of birth, parental information (marital status and highest education attained), social networking site use, academic major, and SAT score.

Weekly Survey

Each week students reflected on their previous week and provided self-assessments of multiple wellness measures including: quality of sleep, stressors experienced, methods of dealing with stress, and emotional health. Each element was rated using a five-point Likert scale.

Tweets/Retweets

Twitter is a social media site where users can write tweets of 140 characters or less and/or forward tweets written by someone else (called retweets ). All tweets (n= 21,491) and retweets (n = 14,454 ) for all participants were downloaded during the three-month study using Twitter’s Rest API. If a user’s account was private, study staff contacted the participant to request that they momentarily allow access to the account.

The tweets were cleaned to remove English stop words (e.g. “the”, “and” “that”). All tweets were categorized into five emotion categories: fear, anger, love, joy, or neutral using machine learning model (a Naïve Bayes classifier). In order to train our machine learning model, a sample of 3,500 tweets was randomly selected to be hand-coded by two study staff into one of five emotion categories. Retweets were not considered, as these were not written by the subjects and studies have shown that they do not reflect an individual’s emotions ( Chew & Eysenbach, 2010 ). After hand-coding, joy (22.1%) and fear (17%) were the most common emotions expressed (not considering neutral [25.8%]). The 3,500 hand-coded tweets were placed into a machine learning model (a Naïve Bayes classifier) to predict the emotions in the remaining tweets. The classifier used a bag-of words approach. Monograms that appeared in at least three tweets, bigrams that appeared in at least six tweets, trigrams that appeared in at least three tweets were included. Additional features included the time, day of week, and the week when the tweet was sent, plus the length of the tweet. Separate models were run for each emotion, allowing for tweets to be classified as having several emotions at once.

Leave-one-out cross-validation (with a 80/20% train/test split) was used to assess model accuracy. The estimated accuracy of each model was relatively high, with the model predicting anger in tweets having the highest accuracy (89.4%). The accuracy for the other emotions was as follows: love (83.4%), fear (79.4%), joy (74.5%), and neutral (69.5%). The trained models were then used to classify the remaining tweets that were not hand coded. All natural language processing and prediction analysis was done using NLTK and scikit-learn in IPython.

Data Analysis

This longitudinal study spanned 10 weeks of the first quarter of freshmen year. The objective was to estimate the relationship between the quality of sleep and Twitter use for freshmen students. All regressions used the self-reported quality of sleep as the dependent variable in a linear mixed effects model. Analyses were conducted with RStudio version 0.99.489 (RStudio, Boston, MA, USA) using the nlme package and restricted maximum likelihood estimation (REML). Random effects were specified for the participants (i.e., intercept random effects) and time periods (i.e., slope random effects). Additionally, splines (using the lmeSplines package) were included for the time periods to account for the non-linear nature of the data. A linear mixed effects model allowed for analysis of the high correlation between repeated measures (D. M. Bates, 2010 ; D. Bates, Mächler, Bolker, & Walker, 2014 ). A likelihood ratio test (LRT) against a null model determined statistical significance. Akaike Information Criteria (AIC) and Bayesian Information Criteria (BIC) were also used to determine the fitness of the model.

The full model used in this paper is listed below. All predictor variables were included in separate regressions:

265 students took the online screening survey. 212 students consented to participate in the study. By the time of the first data collection, 197 students remained in the study (12 students dropped out and 3 students were disqualified for not being freshmen). The 10 weeks of data collection began on the third week of classes and lasted until winter break in early December.

181 students (92%) responded to the baseline demographics survey. There were a total of 1,550 observations during the 10 weeks of the study, for a weekly average response rate of 84%. Tests for differences at the baseline between the students who dropped out and students who remained in the study showed no significant differences.

The average age was 18 and 60.2% were female ( Table 1 ). More than 85% of the students had declared a major by the time of enrollment, with the largest share of students in the study (42.5%) consisting of health science/biology students.

Demographic Characteristics of Freshmen Students (n = 181). *

Total Number of Observations by week: Week 1: 132, Week 2: 128, Week 3: 171, Week 4: 174, Week 5: 167, Week 6: 172, Week 7: 157, Week 8: 160, Week 9: 146, Week 10: 148

The sample closely matched the general population of UCLA freshmen, which is an average age of 18.5 years old and 56% female. However, our sample contained a noticeably higher representation of Hispanic and Black students (sample = 29.3% and 11.6%, respectively; UCLA = 22.9% and 4.9%, respectively) and possibly multiracial students (sample = 6.1% and an unreported value by the UCLA registrar). Additionally, there was a higher representation of students majoring in health science/biology versus the general undergraduate population (sample = 42.5%; UCLA = 29.3%) (“Enrollment demographics, Fall 2015,” 2015, “Undergraduate Profile (Undergraduate Profile),” 2014).

Twitter usage and emotions expressed

Tweets were successfully downloaded from 166 of the 181 students who finished the baseline survey. Of the missing students, three students did not tweet during the three-month study, six students had private accounts and were unresponsive to inquiries from research staff, five accounts had been deleted, and one account had been suspended by Twitter. Table 2 contains a summary of the 21,491 tweets and 14,454 retweets (35,946 total tweets). This resulted in a weekly average of 3,595 total tweets and a per-subject average of 217 total tweets. The frequency of the predicted emotions is shown in Table 2 , with joy (18.7%) and fear (12.4%) being the most commonly classified emotions.

Summary Twitter Data for Freshmen Students (n=166)

Figure 1 highlights the variation across a 24-hour period. The daily pattern can be expressed as follows: there was a steady increase between 6 A.M and Noon/1 P.M., after this was general stability until 7 P.M. another increase occurred that plateaued between 9 P.M and Midnight, and finally a lull was reached between 2 A.M and 6 A.M. To capture this, the 24-hour day was broken into four periods. Period 1 (morning/lunch) captures 6:00 A.M. to 1:00 P.M., period 2 (afternoon) captures 1:00 P.M. to 7:00 P.M., period 3 (evening) captures 7:00 P.M. to 2:00 A.M., and period 4 (late night) captures 2:00 A.M. to 6:00 A.M. Table 2 contains the summary data.

Histogram of Tweets/Retweets by Hour for Freshmen Students at the University of California, Los Angeles During the Fall Semester 2015 (n = 181), Los Angeles, CA

Tweets were also categorized according to length, as measured by the number of individual elements in a tweet. An element could be a word, an acronym/abbreviation, a number, an emoticon, a text emoticon, a link, or a hashtag. All elements beginning with “@” were eliminated, as this designates a recipient of a tweet. The average length of a tweet was 9 elements, with a minimum of 0 and maximum of 45. Tweets were then categorized according to the quartile distribution of the length ( Table 2 ).

Quality of Sleep

The average value of self-reported quality of sleep was 3.08 (SD = 0.88). This indicates that students reported an average quality of sleep across the study. However, the average weekly value varied throughout the semester ( Fig. 1 ). The weeks with the lowest reported sleep quality were during midterms (mean = 2.96; SD = 0.83) and final examinations (mean = 2.90, SD = 0.95), while the week with the highest occurred one week prior to finals (mean = 3.41, SD = 0.94).

After merging the weekly survey dataset with the Twitter dataset of 166 students, the mean reported sleep level was 3.07 (SD = 0.88), with no significant difference between the 166 remaining students and 15 missing students.

Weekly Sleep Quality and Twitter usage

The relationship between sleep quality and twitter usage are shown in Table 3 . Tweeting more during late night on weekdays resulted in poor sleep quality (β = −0.937, SE = 0.35), meanwhile tweeting more during evenings was associated with better quality sleep (β = 0.19, SE = 0.09). However, we did not observe this difference on the weekends.

Generalized Linear Mixed Model (GLMM) – Modelling Weekly Sleep Quality and Twitter Use for Freshmen Students.

Students that tweeted shorter tweets on weekdays late at night were associated with poor sleep quality (β = −0.41, SE = 0.14) and longer tweets (β = 0.20, SE = 0.09) were associated with better sleep quality. A greater proportion of tweets characterized by fear during weekdays was associated with lower sleep quality (β = −0.30, SE = 0.13). There were no other significant association for the length of a tweet, emotion of the tweets on sleep quality on the weekends.

This three-month study explored the relationship between the self-reported quality of sleep and social media activities of freshmen college students during their first academic semester. This is one of only a few studies that have tracked freshmen sleep patterns ( Galambos, Howard, & Maggs, 2011 ; Miller, Shattuck, & Matsangas, 2010 ), and the only one we know to longitudinally combine a sleep study with extensive social media data.

The first major finding indicated a link between sleep quality and when students used social media during the course of a week. Students who tweeted more frequently on weekday late nights (2:00 A.M.–6:00 A.M.) reported a significantly lower quality of sleep, yet if they tweeted more frequently on weekend late nights there was no significant relationship. Interesting tweeting more during weekday evening was associated with better sleep. From these findings, it might also be argued that engagement with Twitter is reflective of student schedules (i.e., during weekdays, many students have classes in the morning and tweeting late at night indicates that they are not sleeping. The finding for a difference between weekdays and weekends is consistent with the findings reported in Golder and Macy (2011 ) ( Golder & Macy, 2011 ).

A secondary analysis showed that freshmen sleep quality was not just related to the temporal aspects of tweeting, but also to the content of the tweets. For late night tweets, when students wrote a greater share of “short” length tweets, they reported lower quality of sleep. Akin to this finding is that when freshmen wrote a greater share of “long” tweets on weekday evenings, they reported a higher quality of sleep. Importantly, there were no other significant relationships found between tweet length and the time of day on weekdays. A similar finding was reported in a study by Mark et al. ( Mark et al., 2016 ), which showed that repetitive Facebook status checking late at night is linked with lower quality of sleep in students. The argument in this study is that writing a short tweet requires less effort than writing a long tweet, and that more frequent late night short tweeting could be a Twitter-equivalent to repetitive late-night Facebook checking. Remarkably, more frequent longer tweets in the evening were associated with better quality sleep, indicating that better sleepers engage Twitter differently than poorer sleepers. One possible explanation for this finding is that better student sleepers participate in more social and conversational tweeting at night, while another is that better sleepers have positive habits that reinforce their sleeping schedule.

Finally, this paper established that levels of fear expressed by freshmen in their social media activities were related to sleep quality. The tweets written by the students reflect their emotional state, and fear is an especially important emotion for freshmen given the high levels of academic stress and other life changes during freshmen year. This finding confirms a link between student sleep quality and mood/emotions ( Galambos, Dalton, & Maggs, 2009 ) and underscores the primacy of fear as compared to other emotions for freshmen.

There are several limitations to this study. First, the sample was restricted to active Twitter users (> 3 posts/wk), which may have led to an overrepresentation of minority students. Twitter is popular among Black/Latino youths, with 40% of black versus 29% of white 18- to 29-year-olds using Twitter ( Gesenhues, 2014 ). We believe this is a positive aspect in our study, as minority students are high-risk for a number of public health issues. In addition, having an overrepresented sample of minority students can help to better understand poor sleep among these groups. Second, the sample included a high number of health science major students. Fitness trackers were distributed to participants, which could explain why a larger share of health science students participated in the study. Third, this study only tracked the first quarter, rather than the entire year. A longer study could provide for extended conclusions about how freshmen students adjust to academic life.

This study tracked the self-reported quality of sleep and social media habits of 197 freshmen over their first quarter at a major university. It was shown that weekday tweeting late at night (2:00 A.M.–6:00 A.M.), especially posting shorter tweets, was associated with poorer quality sleep. It was also shown that tweeting during evenings (7:00 P.M.–2:00 A.M.), especially posting longer tweets, was associated with better quality sleep. Finally, as freshmen posted more fear-related tweets, their reported quality of sleep decreased. This study established Twitter as an important source of data for predicting freshmen sleep quality, and thus their overall well-being during a particularly stressful time of life.

Average Sleep Rating for Freshmen Students at the University of California, Los Angeles During the Fall Semester 2015 (n = 181), Los Angeles, CA 15 (n = 181), Los Angeles, CA

Biographies

Renee Garett – Renee Garett is a licensed clinical social worker and the Founding Director of ElevateU, an organization that conducts research and development on technologies to address at-risk populations, particularly youth.

Dr. Sam Liu – Dr. Sam Liu received his PhD from University of Toronto in public health and health promotion. His research focuses studying the effects of digital communication technology on health behaviors.

Dr. Sean Young – Dr. Sean Young received his PhD in Psychology and MS in Health Services Research from Stanford University. Dr. Young is the Executive Director of the University of California Institute for Prediction Technology and an Associate Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Disclosure Statement: There is no financial interest or benefit for any author and there is no conflict of interest to report. Additionally, there is no funding to report for this study.

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2024 Ethics Essay Contest winners announced

Claire Martino , a junior from New Berlin, Wis., majoring in applied mathematics and data science, is the winner of the 2024 Ethics Essay Contest for the essay "Artificial Intelligence Could Probably Write This Essay Better than Me."

The second place entry was from Morgan J. Janes , a junior from Rock Island, Ill., majoring in biology, for the essay "The Relevant History and Medical and Ethical Future Viability of Xenotransplantation."

Third place went to Alyssa Scudder , a senior from Lee, Ill., majoring in biology, for the essay "The Ethicality of Gene Alteration in Human Embryos."

Dr. Dan Lee announced the winners on behalf of the board of directors of the Augustana Center for the Study of Ethics, sponsor of the contest. The winner will receive an award of $100, the second-place winner an award of $50, and the third-place winner an award of $25.

Honorable mentions went to Grace Palmer , a senior art and accounting double major from Galesburg, Ill., for the essay "The Ethiopian Coffee Trade: Is Positive Change Brewing?" and Sarah Marrs , a sophomore from Carpentersville, Ill., majoring in political science and women, gender and sexuality studies, for the essay "Dating Apps as an Outlet to Promote Sexual Autonomy among Disabled Individuals: an Intersectional Approach to Change."

The winning essays will be published in Augustana Digital Commons .

The Augustana Center for the Study of Ethics was established to enrich the teaching-learning experiences for students by providing greater opportunities for them to meet and interact with community leaders and to encourage discussions of issues of ethical significance through campus programs and community outreach.

Dr. Lee, whose teaching responsibilities since joining the Augustana faculty in 1974 have included courses in ethics, serves as the center's director.

If you have news, send it to [email protected] ! We love hearing about the achievements of our alumni, students and faculty.

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NPR defends its journalism after senior editor says it has lost the public's trust

David Folkenflik

NPR is defending its journalism and integrity after a senior editor wrote an essay accusing it of losing the public's trust. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

NPR is defending its journalism and integrity after a senior editor wrote an essay accusing it of losing the public's trust.

NPR's top news executive defended its journalism and its commitment to reflecting a diverse array of views on Tuesday after a senior NPR editor wrote a broad critique of how the network has covered some of the most important stories of the age.

"An open-minded spirit no longer exists within NPR, and now, predictably, we don't have an audience that reflects America," writes Uri Berliner.

A strategic emphasis on diversity and inclusion on the basis of race, ethnicity and sexual orientation, promoted by NPR's former CEO, John Lansing, has fed "the absence of viewpoint diversity," Berliner writes.

NPR's chief news executive, Edith Chapin, wrote in a memo to staff Tuesday afternoon that she and the news leadership team strongly reject Berliner's assessment.

"We're proud to stand behind the exceptional work that our desks and shows do to cover a wide range of challenging stories," she wrote. "We believe that inclusion — among our staff, with our sourcing, and in our overall coverage — is critical to telling the nuanced stories of this country and our world."

NPR names tech executive Katherine Maher to lead in turbulent era

She added, "None of our work is above scrutiny or critique. We must have vigorous discussions in the newsroom about how we serve the public as a whole."

A spokesperson for NPR said Chapin, who also serves as the network's chief content officer, would have no further comment.

Praised by NPR's critics

Berliner is a senior editor on NPR's Business Desk. (Disclosure: I, too, am part of the Business Desk, and Berliner has edited many of my past stories. He did not see any version of this article or participate in its preparation before it was posted publicly.)

Berliner's essay , titled "I've Been at NPR for 25 years. Here's How We Lost America's Trust," was published by The Free Press, a website that has welcomed journalists who have concluded that mainstream news outlets have become reflexively liberal.

Berliner writes that as a Subaru-driving, Sarah Lawrence College graduate who "was raised by a lesbian peace activist mother ," he fits the mold of a loyal NPR fan.

Yet Berliner says NPR's news coverage has fallen short on some of the most controversial stories of recent years, from the question of whether former President Donald Trump colluded with Russia in the 2016 election, to the origins of the virus that causes COVID-19, to the significance and provenance of emails leaked from a laptop owned by Hunter Biden weeks before the 2020 election. In addition, he blasted NPR's coverage of the Israel-Hamas conflict.

On each of these stories, Berliner asserts, NPR has suffered from groupthink due to too little diversity of viewpoints in the newsroom.

The essay ricocheted Tuesday around conservative media , with some labeling Berliner a whistleblower . Others picked it up on social media, including Elon Musk, who has lambasted NPR for leaving his social media site, X. (Musk emailed another NPR reporter a link to Berliner's article with a gibe that the reporter was a "quisling" — a World War II reference to someone who collaborates with the enemy.)

When asked for further comment late Tuesday, Berliner declined, saying the essay spoke for itself.

The arguments he raises — and counters — have percolated across U.S. newsrooms in recent years. The #MeToo sexual harassment scandals of 2016 and 2017 forced newsrooms to listen to and heed more junior colleagues. The social justice movement prompted by the killing of George Floyd in 2020 inspired a reckoning in many places. Newsroom leaders often appeared to stand on shaky ground.

Leaders at many newsrooms, including top editors at The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times , lost their jobs. Legendary Washington Post Executive Editor Martin Baron wrote in his memoir that he feared his bonds with the staff were "frayed beyond repair," especially over the degree of self-expression his journalists expected to exert on social media, before he decided to step down in early 2021.

Since then, Baron and others — including leaders of some of these newsrooms — have suggested that the pendulum has swung too far.

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Legendary editor marty baron describes his 'collision of power' with trump and bezos.

New York Times publisher A.G. Sulzberger warned last year against journalists embracing a stance of what he calls "one-side-ism": "where journalists are demonstrating that they're on the side of the righteous."

"I really think that that can create blind spots and echo chambers," he said.

Internal arguments at The Times over the strength of its reporting on accusations that Hamas engaged in sexual assaults as part of a strategy for its Oct. 7 attack on Israel erupted publicly . The paper conducted an investigation to determine the source of a leak over a planned episode of the paper's podcast The Daily on the subject, which months later has not been released. The newsroom guild accused the paper of "targeted interrogation" of journalists of Middle Eastern descent.

Heated pushback in NPR's newsroom

Given Berliner's account of private conversations, several NPR journalists question whether they can now trust him with unguarded assessments about stories in real time. Others express frustration that he had not sought out comment in advance of publication. Berliner acknowledged to me that for this story, he did not seek NPR's approval to publish the piece, nor did he give the network advance notice.

Some of Berliner's NPR colleagues are responding heatedly. Fernando Alfonso, a senior supervising editor for digital news, wrote that he wholeheartedly rejected Berliner's critique of the coverage of the Israel-Hamas conflict, for which NPR's journalists, like their peers, periodically put themselves at risk.

Alfonso also took issue with Berliner's concern over the focus on diversity at NPR.

"As a person of color who has often worked in newsrooms with little to no people who look like me, the efforts NPR has made to diversify its workforce and its sources are unique and appropriate given the news industry's long-standing lack of diversity," Alfonso says. "These efforts should be celebrated and not denigrated as Uri has done."

After this story was first published, Berliner contested Alfonso's characterization, saying his criticism of NPR is about the lack of diversity of viewpoints, not its diversity itself.

"I never criticized NPR's priority of achieving a more diverse workforce in terms of race, ethnicity and sexual orientation. I have not 'denigrated' NPR's newsroom diversity goals," Berliner said. "That's wrong."

Questions of diversity

Under former CEO John Lansing, NPR made increasing diversity, both of its staff and its audience, its "North Star" mission. Berliner says in the essay that NPR failed to consider broader diversity of viewpoint, noting, "In D.C., where NPR is headquartered and many of us live, I found 87 registered Democrats working in editorial positions and zero Republicans."

Berliner cited audience estimates that suggested a concurrent falloff in listening by Republicans. (The number of people listening to NPR broadcasts and terrestrial radio broadly has declined since the start of the pandemic.)

Former NPR vice president for news and ombudsman Jeffrey Dvorkin tweeted , "I know Uri. He's not wrong."

Others questioned Berliner's logic. "This probably gets causality somewhat backward," tweeted Semafor Washington editor Jordan Weissmann . "I'd guess that a lot of NPR listeners who voted for [Mitt] Romney have changed how they identify politically."

Similarly, Nieman Lab founder Joshua Benton suggested the rise of Trump alienated many NPR-appreciating Republicans from the GOP.

In recent years, NPR has greatly enhanced the percentage of people of color in its workforce and its executive ranks. Four out of 10 staffers are people of color; nearly half of NPR's leadership team identifies as Black, Asian or Latino.

"The philosophy is: Do you want to serve all of America and make sure it sounds like all of America, or not?" Lansing, who stepped down last month, says in response to Berliner's piece. "I'd welcome the argument against that."

"On radio, we were really lagging in our representation of an audience that makes us look like what America looks like today," Lansing says. The U.S. looks and sounds a lot different than it did in 1971, when NPR's first show was broadcast, Lansing says.

A network spokesperson says new NPR CEO Katherine Maher supports Chapin and her response to Berliner's critique.

The spokesperson says that Maher "believes that it's a healthy thing for a public service newsroom to engage in rigorous consideration of the needs of our audiences, including where we serve our mission well and where we can serve it better."

Disclosure: This story was reported and written by NPR Media Correspondent David Folkenflik and edited by Deputy Business Editor Emily Kopp and Managing Editor Gerry Holmes. Under NPR's protocol for reporting on itself, no NPR corporate official or news executive reviewed this story before it was posted publicly.

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NPR in Turmoil After It Is Accused of Liberal Bias

An essay from an editor at the broadcaster has generated a firestorm of criticism about the network on social media, especially among conservatives.

By Benjamin Mullin and Katie Robertson

NPR is facing both internal tumult and a fusillade of attacks by prominent conservatives this week after a senior editor publicly claimed the broadcaster had allowed liberal bias to affect its coverage, risking its trust with audiences.

Uri Berliner, a senior business editor who has worked at NPR for 25 years, wrote in an essay published Tuesday by The Free Press, a popular Substack publication, that “people at every level of NPR have comfortably coalesced around the progressive worldview.”

Mr. Berliner, a Peabody Award-winning journalist, castigated NPR for what he said was a litany of journalistic missteps around coverage of several major news events, including the origins of Covid-19 and the war in Gaza. He also said the internal culture at NPR had placed race and identity as “paramount in nearly every aspect of the workplace.”

Mr. Berliner’s essay has ignited a firestorm of criticism of NPR on social media, especially among conservatives who have long accused the network of political bias in its reporting. Former President Donald J. Trump took to his social media platform, Truth Social, to argue that NPR’s government funding should be rescinded, an argument he has made in the past.

NPR has forcefully pushed back on Mr. Berliner’s accusations and the criticism.

“We’re proud to stand behind the exceptional work that our desks and shows do to cover a wide range of challenging stories,” Edith Chapin, the organization’s editor in chief, said in an email to staff on Tuesday. “We believe that inclusion — among our staff, with our sourcing, and in our overall coverage — is critical to telling the nuanced stories of this country and our world.” Some other NPR journalists also criticized the essay publicly, including Eric Deggans, its TV critic, who faulted Mr. Berliner for not giving NPR an opportunity to comment on the piece.

In an interview on Thursday, Mr. Berliner expressed no regrets about publishing the essay, saying he loved NPR and hoped to make it better by airing criticisms that have gone unheeded by leaders for years. He called NPR a “national trust” that people rely on for fair reporting and superb storytelling.

“I decided to go out and publish it in hopes that something would change, and that we get a broader conversation going about how the news is covered,” Mr. Berliner said.

He said he had not been disciplined by managers, though he said he had received a note from his supervisor reminding him that NPR requires employees to clear speaking appearances and media requests with standards and media relations. He said he didn’t run his remarks to The New York Times by network spokespeople.

When the hosts of NPR’s biggest shows, including “Morning Edition” and “All Things Considered,” convened on Wednesday afternoon for a long-scheduled meet-and-greet with the network’s new chief executive, Katherine Maher , conversation soon turned to Mr. Berliner’s essay, according to two people with knowledge of the meeting. During the lunch, Ms. Chapin told the hosts that she didn’t want Mr. Berliner to become a “martyr,” the people said.

Mr. Berliner’s essay also sent critical Slack messages whizzing through some of the same employee affinity groups focused on racial and sexual identity that he cited in his essay. In one group, several staff members disputed Mr. Berliner’s points about a lack of ideological diversity and said efforts to recruit more people of color would make NPR’s journalism better.

On Wednesday, staff members from “Morning Edition” convened to discuss the fallout from Mr. Berliner’s essay. During the meeting, an NPR producer took issue with Mr. Berliner’s argument for why NPR’s listenership has fallen off, describing a variety of factors that have contributed to the change.

Mr. Berliner’s remarks prompted vehement pushback from several news executives. Tony Cavin, NPR’s managing editor of standards and practices, said in an interview that he rejected all of Mr. Berliner’s claims of unfairness, adding that his remarks would probably make it harder for NPR journalists to do their jobs.

“The next time one of our people calls up a Republican congressman or something and tries to get an answer from them, they may well say, ‘Oh, I read these stories, you guys aren’t fair, so I’m not going to talk to you,’” Mr. Cavin said.

Some journalists have defended Mr. Berliner’s essay. Jeffrey A. Dvorkin, NPR’s former ombudsman, said Mr. Berliner was “not wrong” on social media. Chuck Holmes, a former managing editor at NPR, called Mr. Berliner’s essay “brave” on Facebook.

Mr. Berliner’s criticism was the latest salvo within NPR, which is no stranger to internal division. In October, Mr. Berliner took part in a lengthy debate over whether NPR should defer to language proposed by the Arab and Middle Eastern Journalists Association while covering the conflict in Gaza.

“We don’t need to rely on an advocacy group’s guidance,” Mr. Berliner wrote, according to a copy of the email exchange viewed by The Times. “Our job is to seek out the facts and report them.” The debate didn’t change NPR’s language guidance, which is made by editors who weren’t part of the discussion. And in a statement on Thursday, the Arab and Middle Eastern Journalists Association said it is a professional association for journalists, not a political advocacy group.

Mr. Berliner’s public criticism has highlighted broader concerns within NPR about the public broadcaster’s mission amid continued financial struggles. Last year, NPR cut 10 percent of its staff and canceled four podcasts, including the popular “Invisibilia,” as it tried to make up for a $30 million budget shortfall. Listeners have drifted away from traditional radio to podcasts, and the advertising market has been unsteady.

In his essay, Mr. Berliner laid some of the blame at the feet of NPR’s former chief executive, John Lansing, who said he was retiring at the end of last year after four years in the role. He was replaced by Ms. Maher, who started on March 25.

During a meeting with employees in her first week, Ms. Maher was asked what she thought about decisions to give a platform to political figures like Ronna McDaniel, the former Republican Party chair whose position as a political analyst at NBC News became untenable after an on-air revolt from hosts who criticized her efforts to undermine the 2020 election.

“I think that this conversation has been one that does not have an easy answer,” Ms. Maher responded.

Benjamin Mullin reports on the major companies behind news and entertainment. Contact Ben securely on Signal at +1 530-961-3223 or email at [email protected] . More about Benjamin Mullin

Katie Robertson covers the media industry for The Times. Email:  [email protected]   More about Katie Robertson

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NPR has reportedly been thrown into turmoil after a bombshell essay penned by a veteran editor claimed the broadcaster allowed liberal bias to affect its coverage — with the editor-in-chief telling furious staffers she did not want him to become a “martyr.”

Uri Berliner, a Peabody Award-winning journalist who has worked at NPR for 25 years, called out journalistic blind spots around major news events, including the origins of COVID-19, the war in Gaza and the Hunter Biden laptop, in an essay published Tuesday on  Bari Weiss’ online news site the Free Press .

The senior business editor also said the internal culture at NPR had placed race and identity as ”paramount in nearly every aspect of the workplace.”

Berliner’s essay sparked a firestorm of criticism from prominent conservatives — with former President Donald Trump demanding NPR’s federal funding be yanked — and has led to internal tumult, the New York Times reported Friday.

The essay was brought up at what was described as a “long-scheduled meet-and-greet” with the hosts of NPR’s biggest shows on Wednesday, where NPR editor-in-chief Edith Chapin reportedly said she did not want Berliner to become a “martyr,” according to the Times.

Others took to the internal messaging system to rail against Berliner’s assertions.

“Mr. Berliner’s essay also sent critical Slack messages whizzing through some of the same employee affinity groups focused on racial and sexual identity that he cited in his essay. In one group, several staff members disputed Mr. Berliner’s points about a lack of ideological diversity and said efforts to recruit more people of color would make NPR’s journalism better,” the Times reported. 

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NPR managing editor of standards and practices Tony Cavin disputed Berliner’s assumptions and claimed the essay will likely make it “harder for NPR journalists to do their jobs.”

”The next time one of our people calls up a Republican congressman or something and tries to get an answer from them, they may well say, ‘Oh, I read these stories, you guys aren’t fair, so I’m not going to talk to you,”’ Cavin said.

NPR did not immediately return calls for comment.

Berliner told the Times on Thursday that he didn’t regret publishing the essay, saying he loved NPR and hoped to make it better by “airing criticisms that have gone unheeded by leaders for years.”

Calling the broadcaster a “national trust” that people rely on for fair reporting and top-notch storytelling, he said: ”I decided to go out and publish it in hopes that something would change, and that we get a broader conversation going about how the news is covered.”

Berliner said he hasn’t been disciplined for writing the essay, but he did get a note from his supervisor reminding him that NPR requires employees to clear speaking appearances and media requests with standards and media relations teams.

Some former NPR staffers defended Berliner’s essay.

Jeffrey A. Dvorkin, NPR’s former ombudsman, said Berliner was ”not wrong.” Chuck Holmes, a former managing editor at NPR, called Berliner’s essay ”brave.”

After the essay was published, Berliner said, he received “a lot of support from colleagues, and many of them unexpected, who say they agree with me.”

“Some of them say this confidentially,”  Berliner told NewsNation anchor Chris Cuomo on Tuesday.

Chapin had pushed back on Berliner’s claims of a liberal bias, saying: ”We’re proud to stand behind the exceptional work that our desks and shows do to cover a wide range of challenging stories.” 

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6 facts about americans and tiktok.

Increasing shares of U.S. adults are turning to the short-form video sharing platform TikTok in general and for news .

Pew Research Center conducted this analysis to better understand Americans’ use and perceptions of TikTok. The data for this analysis comes from several Center surveys conducted in 2023.

More information about the surveys and their methodologies, including the sample sizes and field dates, can be found at the links in the text.

Pew Research Center is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts, its primary funder. This is the latest analysis in Pew Research Center’s ongoing investigation of the state of news, information and journalism in the digital age, a research program funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts, with generous support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

This analysis draws from several Pew Research Center reports on Americans’ use of and attitudes about social media, based on surveys conducted in 2023. For more information, read:

Americans’ Social Media Use

How u.s. adults use tiktok.

• Social Media and News Fact Sheet
• Teens, Social Media and Technology 2023

At the same time, some Americans have concerns about the Chinese-owned platform’s approach to data privacy and its potential impact on national security. Lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives recently passed a bill that, if passed in the Senate and signed into law, would restrict TikTok’s ability to operate in the United States.

Here are six key facts about Americans and TikTok, drawn from Pew Research Center surveys.

A third of U.S. adults – including a majority of adults under 30 – use TikTok. Around six-in-ten U.S. adults under 30 (62%) say they use TikTok, compared with 39% of those ages 30 to 49, 24% of those 50 to 64, and 10% of those 65 and older.

In a 2023 Center survey , TikTok stood out from other platforms we asked about for the rapid growth of its user base. Just two years earlier, 21% of U.S. adults used the platform.

A majority of U.S. teens use TikTok. About six-in-ten teens ages 13 to 17 (63%) say they use the platform. More than half of teens (58%) use it daily, including 17% who say they’re on it “almost constantly.”

A higher share of teen girls than teen boys say they use TikTok almost constantly (22% vs. 12%). Hispanic teens also stand out: Around a third (32%) say they’re on TikTok almost constantly, compared with 20% of Black teens and 10% of White teens.

In fall 2023, support for a U.S. TikTok ban had declined. Around four-in-ten Americans (38%) said that they would support the U.S. government banning TikTok, down from 50% in March 2023. A slightly smaller share (27%) said they would oppose a ban, while 35% were not sure. This question was asked before the House of Representatives passed the bill that could ban the app.

Republicans and Republican-leaning independents were far more likely than Democrats and Democratic leaners to support a TikTok ban (50% vs. 29%), but support had declined across both parties since earlier in the year.

Adults under 30 were less likely to support a ban than their older counterparts. About three-in-ten adults under 30 (29%) supported a ban, compared with 36% of those ages 30 to 49, 39% of those ages 50 to 64, and 49% of those ages 65 and older.

In a separate fall 2023 survey, only 18% of U.S. teens said they supported a ban. 

A relatively small share of users produce most of TikTok’s content. About half of U.S. adult TikTok users (52%) have ever posted a video on the platform. In fact, of all the TikTok content posted by American adults, 98% of publicly accessible videos come from the most active 25% of users .

Those who have posted TikTok content are more active on the site overall. These users follow more accounts, have more followers and are more likely to have filled out an account bio.

Although younger U.S. adults are more likely to use TikTok, their posting behaviors don’t look much different from those of older age groups.

About four-in-ten U.S. TikTok users (43%) say they regularly get news there. While news consumption on other social media sites has declined or remained stagnant in recent years, the share of U.S. TikTok users who get news on the site has doubled since 2020, when 22% got news there.

Related: Social Media and News Fact Sheet

TikTok news consumers are especially likely to be:

• Young. The vast majority of U.S. adults who regularly get news on TikTok are under 50: 44% are ages 18 to 29 and 38% are 30 to 49. Just 4% of TikTok news consumers are ages 65 and older.
• Women. A majority of regular TikTok news consumers in the U.S. are women (58%), while 39% are men. These gender differences are similar to those among news consumers on Instagram and Facebook.
• Democrats. Six-in-ten regular news consumers on TikTok are Democrats or Democratic-leaning independents, while a third are Republicans or GOP leaners.
• Hispanic or Black. Three-in-ten regular TikTok news users in the U.S. are Hispanic, while 19% are Black. Both shares are higher than these groups’ share of the adult population. Around four-in-ten (39%) TikTok news consumers are White, although this group makes up 59% of U.S. adults overall .

A majority of Americans (59%) see TikTok as a major or minor threat to U.S. national security, including 29% who see the app as a major threat. Our May 2023 survey also found that opinions vary across several groups:

• About four-in-ten Republicans (41%) see TikTok as a major threat to national security, compared with 19% of Democrats.
• Older adults are more likely to see TikTok as a major threat: 46% of Americans ages 65 and older say this, compared with 13% of those ages 18 to 29.
• U.S. adults who do not use TikTok are far more likely than TikTok users to believe TikTok is a major threat (36% vs. 9%).

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About Pew Research Center Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts .