What’s your name?
Steven L. Johnson
What’s your department?
Professor of Commerce, McIntire School of Commerce
What’s your hometown?
Raleigh, North Carolina
How are you connected to TYDE?
My initial connection was serving in 2023 on the Grand Challenges: Digital Technology and Youth Development Steering Committee that resulted in the funding of the TYDE initiative. I serve on the TYDE post-doc committee and the grants committee. Currently, I have on-going projects with three different UVA research teams on TYDE-supported projects.
What is your research about? What parts of it are the most exciting to you?
My research explores how digital technology enables the discovery, creation, and sharing of information. As someone studying digital technology, it is always interesting to me how new technology capabilities provide a wider window into human social behavior. I’m excited that through TYDE support, I’m able to focus on how digital technology is impacting young adults—both positively and negatively.
How do you use digital technology in your daily life?
Although I grew at a time when digital technology was largely, if not completely, absent in daily life today, it’s a constant presence in nearly everything I do. I wear a Pebble watch, an Oura fitness ring, and always have my iPhone with me. I’m an active social media user (mostly, on Bluesky). I have smart lights and other internet-of-things devices in both my home and the office. Even when I’m taking a break from work to go on a bike ride, digital technology is alongside tracking my ride.
If you were the U.S. digital technology czar, what kinds of policies would you recommend to help young people thrive?
I believe that digital platforms—be it social media, AI chat bots, or other platforms that prioritize and recommend content and connections—should be held to far higher standards around their role in amplifying and promoting low-quality, potentially harmful information and relationships. While young people benefit from access to high-quality information and social support online, platforms have a societal responsibility to employ far more robust content moderation than they do today.
Featured image by Hugh Kenny / PEC
