And the survey says...
Technotes! Techno-tes. Tech Notes?
Surprise! I’m back with our first edition of Technotes—a quick post, outside of the typical Monday schedule, to share news, ideas, and updates. Still working on the spelling. For now, there will be no schedule for Technotes—it’ll come out whenever the ~*inspiration strikes*~ (i.e., probably when I have childcare). Maybe mid-week, maybe every other week, maybe even on an occasional weekend. We’re living on the edge, people!
Today’s topic: Techno Sapiens survey results.
A few weeks ago, I asked (begged) you all to do a quick survey to share what you’d like to read about on here.
At first, I thought I’d just casually read through all of your (excellent) ideas. Clearly, I’m not as self-aware as I thought. This was good data! As soon as I downloaded the hundreds of responses into a spreadsheet, I knew there was no going back.
We were going to analyze this thing.
What are we doing, exactly?
I focused on the first two questions. They were:
What questions do you have about technology, psychology, and/or parenting?
What topics would you like to read about on Techno Sapiens?
I combined each person’s responses to these two questions into a single datapoint. I then conducted a “word frequency analysis” to see which words and phrases were used most frequently.
More broadly, this gives some insight into the things we’re all asking about, wondering about, and worrying about as techno sapiens.
Spoiler alert: we all have a lot in common.
And the survey says…
Surely you didn’t spend the time creating a word cloud depicting this frequency analysis, conveniently designed in the soothing Techno Sapiens blue color palette?1 You ask.
Why, yes. Yes I did.
The size of the word here corresponds to the frequency with which it was used in your responses, so this gives us a rough overview of the most common words.2 Filler words, like “the” and “but” have been removed.
Not surprisingly, the top five words (with the corresponding percentage of responders who used that word) were:
Kids (43%). Technology (35%). Social (31%). Media (30%). Tech (30%).
This was an extremely common sentiment:
I'm interested in learning as much as I can about how to integrate technology into my kids’ lives in a healthy and productive way, and how to teach them to stay safe online.
As was this, which made me laugh because isn’t this just what parenting is all about?
Just anything I need to know about not screwing up my babies. lol
What else does this data tell us?
The next most commonly used word was time (30%). Nearly one-third of responders were wondering about screen time—what’s normal? What’s too much? How to set limits—for our kids, and ourselves?
For example: How unhealthy is technology for toddlers and how to control their time/behavior? Also, what time of time limits should be instituted?
Responsible screen time management with teens!
Are there recommended strategies for choosing how much time to spend on Instagram? I feel like I get meaningful social connections and educational information there, but I also feel like I spend too much time on the app.
Another commonly used word was age (15%). This came up in two contexts.
There were questions about living in the digital age, and how that might affect everything from our relationships to our parenting to our brains, e.g.:
How to be a good parent in this technology age with a young child.
Parenting in the digital age.
There were also questions about the right age to do things like: get kids a phone, allow social media, let babies watch TV, etc.:
My 10 yo is begging for an Apple Watch with cellular service (EVERYONE has one). Are there any downsides to getting her one? Is there an appropriate age?
Speaking of age, roughly an equal number of responders used each of the following words: babies, toddlers, and teens (~7% each), with adults lagging not too far behind (4%).3 Techno sapiens, it seems, are facing a full spectrum of tech experiences—from parenting infants to managing our own digital habits.
Finally, we see a series of other frequent words reflecting common worries and fears. How do I protect my child’s privacy online? What impact will tech have on my kid’s development? How do I set appropriate limits? What can I do to find balance?
So, now what?
Beyond fulfilling my previously unrecognized, deep-seated need to analyze things, these results were a reminder.
When it comes to tech, we’re all facing so many of the same issues.
So many of us are wondering the same things, asking the same questions, searching for the same answers. Hoping to find that ever-elusive balance.
Here’s to figuring it out together.
Finally, a big thank you to all who provided questions, ideas, and encouragement.4 I can’t wait to tackle the topics you raised—from the tactical (how do I get my kid to turn off the iPad?) to the uncomfortable (how do I talk to my teen about porn?) to the futuristic (what’s the metaverse?). No better way to say thank you than with a word frequency analysis, in which word #34 is love. ❤️
See you Monday, techno sapiens!
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It takes a village of sapiens to put together this newsletter, and one of those sapiens is my (much younger, much more artistically-inclined) sister Alex, who designed all the Techno Sapiens graphics and colors.
In my research, I sometimes use word clouds as a quick visual when analyzing the content of teens’ social media posts. I recently did this with over 6,000 Instagram comments from the participants in one of my studies. What did I see when I pulled up the graph? F***ing. In giant letters. It seems that the top three words teens use in their Instagram comments are: love, ur, and f***ing. Ah, science.
I recognize that, from a methodological perspective, word frequencies are not a rigorous way of determining the ages of readers’ children. Though I do think we can safely assume that references to babies and toddlers are, in fact, referring to readers’ children, rather than readers themselves. I’ve tried to get my eight-month-old to subscribe to the newsletter, and he claims he “can’t read.” Rude.
To the person who wrote that Techno Sapiens is their HOLY GRAIL [sic]…I’m not sure I deserve this honor, but THANK YOU.