Inspiring a future without smartphone addiction - Max Stossel of Social Awakening

In today's episode, I speak to Max Stossel—an award-winning poet and filmmaker, as well as the founder and CEO of Social Awakening. Max has spent the last year speaking in front of more than a hundred thousand students, parents, and educators, talking about how social media and social media addiction affects our lives. With Social Awakening, he has made it his mission to help teenagers thrive in a digital world where apps are radically optimized for engagement by leveraging addictive behavior.

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS

• [1:05] Max Stossel’s background & Journey
• [4:20] Lessons learned from working in the social media industry
• [6:41] How does the social media Economy work for companies?
• [8:35] Mechanisms behind social media
• [11:11] Max's views on the world learning to adjust to social media 
• [13:54] What lessons/advice do you give kids struggling with social media addiction
• [16:09] Action plans for how to combat social media addiction
• [18:59] What do social media Apps do differently in engagement
• [21:54] Advice for social media impact-driven founders
• [26:32] Net positive hours 
• [27:57] Strategies to help in handling social media usage
• [32:30] Max’s 10-year vision  

KEY LESSONS & QUOTES

• “I’d love to live in a world where all data in social networks was being used to help us improve our lives, to help illuminate new experiences and opportunities.” [12:11]
• “Having social media values helps when I show up whichever way in the world. I feel good about it regardless of the outcome, if it goes my way or if anybody else joins me.” [26:46]
• ”You already know there is one app on your phone that you're like, I know I should delete that one, but you're just not doing it, stop it, go delete it now.” [28:28]

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