Selected Podcast

EP 1064B - You Are What You Click: How Being Selective, Positive and Creative Can Transform Your Social Media Experience

Social media can be addictive. For many of us, endless and endless scrolling dominates our lives, often creating a sense of depression, anxiety, and even loneliness. But should we completely unplug? Can’t we use social media for positive things as well?

All of these questions and more are discussed in Dr. Brian Primack's book You Are What You Click.

Social media expert, Brian Primack MD, PhD, makes the realist's argument that we do not need to give up social media, delete all of our online accounts, or discard our phones to live a healthier, happier life. Instead, in You Are What You Click, Primack shows us how what we are consuming online affects our well-being, and he gives us a personalized "tech diet" for enjoying a healthy relationship with social media.

Arming readers with new evidence-based research, this book teaches us why we aren't just feeling more alone and depressed because of our overconsumption of social media, but because we have yet to learn how to use this technology as a tool for inspiration, creativity, and connection.
EP 1064B - You Are What You Click: How Being Selective, Positive and Creative Can Transform Your Social Media Experience
Featuring:
Dr. Brian Primack
Dr. Brian Primack is internationally known for his research in the complex interrelationships between media, technology, and health.

He received degrees in English and Mathematics from Yale University in 1991 and then received his first master’s degree in Educational Psychology and Human Development from Harvard University. He then graduated with an M.D. first in his class from Emory Medical School. Dr. Primack received his second master’s degree and Ph.D. in Social and Behavioral Science from Pittsburgh.

He has obtained over $10 million to research media, technology, and health. His discoveries have been published in several medical and social science journals, such as NPR’s All Things ConsideredNPR’s Here and Now, the New York TimesThe Washington PostUS News and World Report, and CBS Sunday Morning with Jane Pauley.

Dr. Primack joined the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine faculty in 2002. During the subsequent 15 years, he served Pitt as the Assistant Vice Chancellor for Research on Health and Society, the founding director of the Center for Research on Media, Technology, and Health, and the Dean of the Pitt Honors College.

He currently works for the University of Arkansas as the Dean of the College of Education and Health Professions while serving as the Henry G. Hotz Endowed Chair in Educational Innovations and a Professor of Public Health and Medicine. In this role, he is responsible for a College of 6000 students, staff, and faculty involved in the “caring professions,” including public health, education, nursing, counseling, occupational and speech therapy, and much more.

Dr. Primack lives in Fayetteville, Arkansas, with his wife, two children, mother-in-law, the family dog, and two pet guinea pigs.