2023 Year in Review
It's been a good one
Hi! I’m Jacqueline Nesi, a clinical psychologist, professor at Brown University, and mom of two young kids. Here at Techno Sapiens, I share the latest research on psychology, technology, and parenting, plus practical tips for living and parenting in the digital age. Subscribe to join 20,000 readers, and if you like what you’re reading, please share Techno Sapiens with a friend.
It’s that time of year again! Everywhere you look, from TikTok to Spotify to right here at Techno Sapiens, we’re rounding up the most memorable moments of 2023.
TikTok, for example, has released Year on TikTok 2023, highlighting the year’s most popular videos, songs, and creators. Before we get into our Techno Sapiens highlights, let’s take a quick look at TikTok’s top five U.S. trends of 2023 (with brief explainers):
Girl Dinner: Women showcase “dinners” they’ve put together that mostly involve random combinations of snacks on a plate. 2.4 billion views.
Wes Anderson: People film mundane daily activities in the style of Wes Anderson.
Red, green, and beige flags: People identify bad (red), good (green), and weird-but-not-dealbreakers (beige) qualities in their dating partners.
“Where’s my dad?”: Repurposing the audio from a children’s community theater performance of Finding Nemo (?), people identify overwhelming “where’s my dad?” moments (e.g., sitting down to do your taxes).
Thank you to my man: People thank family or friends, either earnestly or sarcastically.
Spotify has also released its yearly Wrapped results, providing each of us data on our individual listening habits for the year.
I don’t know about you, but the combination of puzzling over TikTok trends and learning that The Wiggles are my top Spotify artist for the second year running has me feeling a bit out-of-touch.
So please, join me in retreating to our familiar little corner of the Internet here at Techno Sapiens with our very own 2023 Year in Review. All are welcome here, even if you’re still not 100% sure what a “girl dinner” is (and especially if you know all the words to “Hot Potato”).
Techno Sapiens 2023 Milestones
It was a big year for us, sapiens.
Our community crossed 20,000 readers (!), which is both incredibly exciting and very intimidating. I am navigating this by trying never to think about it.
We were a 2023 Substack Featured Publication! I even got to do this fun interview with Substack Writers and made an appearance on their Instagram.
The Guardian ranked Techno Sapiens as one of their top 33 Substack newsletters, alongside some incredible company, like Patti Smith George Saunders Katelyn Jetelina Ryan Broderick and Emma Gannon.
We launched paid subscriptions, and some very generous sapiens helped me take a first step toward making this whole endeavor financially sustainable (thank you!)
We got to know each other better and, in the end, reached a strong consensus on preferring, hypothetically, to fight 100 duck-sized horses versus one horse-sized duck.
Top Posts of 2023
And now, without further ado, here are the most popular Techno Sapiens posts of the year.
New study: A better way to kill time
"When we think about the effects of phone use, we often consider the alternative. That is, if the alternative to using our phones is just sitting there, awkwardly waiting in a room with some strangers, are we really missing out on anything by using our phones? But what if we’re bad at predicting what will actually make us feel better? This study suggests that, maybe, we’ve been assuming wrong all along..."
Should your kid watch Bluey?
"What elevated cinematic masterpiece has earned such rave reviews? Let’s check in with the show’s creator: “Well, there’s not a great deal to the idea of Bluey. It's talking dogs. I'm not the first to do talking dogs, and I'm sure I won't be the last.” - Joe Blumm, speaking to NPR. That’s right, sapiens. The time has come. We’re talking about Bluey..."
7 ways ChatGPT can save you time
"Ask ChatGPT to give you recipe ideas, from a single recipe with certain ingredients, to a full, weeklong meal plan. Prompt it with your preferences (healthy, no fish, extra bagels, etc.), or ask it to draw ideas from a favorite recipe creator. Then, ask it to make you a grocery list with everything you’ll need. Bonus: you can install an Instacart plug-in, which will take your grocery list, order the items on Instacart, and get them delivered to you. The future is now!"
Are screen time limits backfiring?
"It seems we’ve been approaching screen time limits all wrong. When we go to set a limit, we often start by asking ourselves the maximum amount of time we’d be willing to spend (or have our kids spend) on an app or device. This, paradoxically, may be increasing the amount of time we spend on our screens—even though most of us mistakenly believe our limits are working..."
A mindful approach to your phone
"There was also my nightly ritual of collapsing on the couch with my phone, slowly assuming an increasingly horizontal position as a pile of pillows and cushions enveloped me, my eyes glazing as the screen flashed with Instagram reels, Twitter threads, and email exchanges—and doing this until I eventually zombie-walked up the stairs to bed..."
See you next year
We’ve got lots of exciting things on the horizon, and I can’t wait to share them with you. But for now, I’m taking a moment to reflect on this past year and how much I appreciate all of you. Thanks for welcoming me into your inbox every week, techno sapiens. See you in 2024!
A quick survey
What did you think of this week’s Techno Sapiens? Your feedback helps me make this better. Thanks!
Thank you for a great year! My kids now love Bluey thanks to this newsletter. It actually brings all four of us a lot of joy when we sit down as a family to watch it. I have also quoted your take on that giant Jenga study more than once while out with various friends. My partner now leaves his phone on a separate floor of our house before bedtime (I'm not there yet). In sum: tangible positive impacts of your newsletter on our lives. Thanks so much!!