My journey in bringing legislation to reduce social media's harm on our mental health
Welcome to Fixing the Mental Health Crisis by me, Dan Seider. Thank you for signing-up!
Part of the inspiration behind this book is Ralph Nader. In the 1960s, Ralph wrote a book called Not Safe At Any Speed. It covered the safety faults by car manufactures that were causing many injuries and sadly deaths too.
The manufacturers had effectively no incentives to put new safety features in place. After the book came out, new legislations were introduced across America, which continue to save millions of lives.
That book is the reason why all cars have seatbelts and airbags.
Today social media companies have insufficient incentives to reduce their harm on our mental health.
Facebook shut down their Well-being team, intended to understand its impact on our mental health. Early Facebook employees and investors have called it ‘the cigarettes of our generation’.
Members of congress have tried to introduce new legislation to fix this problem but so far things have only gotten worse.
In the book I paint a story using available public evidence, new research, and insider information from social media company employees, framing social media as the worst thing for our mental health.
From my work in the intersection of tech, mental health, and policy — I share a framework that legislators can follow to create sufficient incentives for social media companies to reduce their harm on our mental health.
In this newsletter I’m going to share early access to chapters of the book, highlights of interviews I do with tech executives, policy makers, and mental health researchers.
Why should you believe what I’m tackling will work?
You probably shouldn’t.
Most attempts here have failed.
I’m in my late 20s. I’ve struggled with my mental health — my personal inspiration here.
Myself, along side hundreds of others, including leader researchers, ex-FTC lawyers, and employees at social platforms all agree that we have a solid plan.
If you want to learn more, stay updated on our progress, toss your email below if you’re not already signed-up!
In the meantime, tell your friends!