ICS Colloquium: Annie Margaret, PhD, Associate Teaching Professor, ATLAS Institute, University of Colorado Boulder
Friday, October 25, 2024 12pm to 2pm
About this Event
1905 Colorado Avenue, Boulder, CO 80309
http://colorado.edu/icsTitle: Closing the Gap: Agency and Metacognition as Effective Interventions for Maladaptive Social Media Use
Presenter: Annie Margaret, PhD, Associate Teaching Professor, ATLAS Institute, University of Colorado Boulder
Abstract: The rapid evolution and integration of social technologies has created an evolutionary mismatch—a discordance between our cognitive adaptations and current media environment—often leading to maladaptive social media use patterns and negative mental health outcomes. This presentation introduces a novel cognitive science-based intervention designed to address this gap by targeting key mechanisms of metacognition and behavioral regulation. Our approach moves beyond the overly-simplistic dichotomy of active versus passive social media use, instead exploring the impacts of specific media behaviors on an individualized basis.
Through a 5-week educational experience combining personalized goal-setting, values-orientation, reflective practices, self-determination theory, replacement behaviors, positive psychology, and peer support, participants enhance their sense of agency and self-awareness in digital interactions and media consumption patterns. Our intervention demonstrated significant reductions in problematic social media use (addiction), correlating with improved well-being outcomes, including reduced technology-related anxiety, decreased perceived stress, and increased sense of agency. We propose a scalable, evidence-based method for fostering healthier relationships with social technologies, effectively closing the gap between our evolutionary heritage and digital present.
Bio: Annie Margaret, PhD, is a dynamic educator, leader, and public speaker serving as teaching faculty at the ATLAS Institute, University of Colorado Boulder. With a focus on neuroscience and evidence-based approaches, she helps individuals and teams learn to regulate their nervous systems and manage their relationships with technology and media consumption. Through her teaching and coaching, she addresses social media dependency, attentional focus, and alignment with personal values, fostering a sense of meaning and purpose in today’s digital world. Annie’s unique approach blends humor, wisdom, and actionable strategies to promote healthier, more intentional engagement with technology, each other, and ourselves.