PROMISE

Today, I hosted the first meeting of a special panel on child safety online.

For decades, we have made the real world safer for children and we must do the same in the digital world.

The positive opportunities that technology offers cannot come at the cost of their safety, health or happiness.

YouTube video by Prof. Dr. Tobias Dienlin Ban, improve, or ignore? Social Media Regulation from a Communication Research Perspective

Title: "Ban, Improve, or Ignore? Social Media Regulation From a Communication Research Perspective".

Last week I gave my inaugural lecture at University of Zurich, @ikmz.bsky.social. Now online on YouTube.

Monday next week, 5 pm, I’ll deliver my UZH inaugural lecture. Title:

„Ban, improve, or ignore? Social Media Regulation from a Communication Research Perspective“

The talk is open to the public: you can join either on-site or via live-stream. Details, see:

www.uzh.ch/de/events/ag...

If you’re interested in youth well-being, digital policy, or how online environments can work better for young people, the newsletter is the best way to follow along as our research unfolds.

📩 Subscribe here: promiseproject.univie.ac.at/news
#PROMISEproject #YouthWellbeing #DigitalPolicy

In this first issue, we cover:
• highlights from our project launch
• introductions to our interdisciplinary team
• a first look at our initial output: a scoping review of social media policy initiatives
3/4

Why 3+3?
Every three months, we share three updates or insights from PROMISE - short, focused, and designed to keep you informed without cluttering your inbox.
2/4

Our first issue of the PROMISE 3+3 Newsletter is out - a new way to follow our research on social media policies, and youth well-being!
1/4

Today, we presented the main results of the mental health days study 2025 (N = 8.177).

Results

> In May 2025, Austria implemented a nationwide smartphone-ban at schools
> Compared to 2024, smartphone use went down by 30 mins
> Life satisfaction went up (5.36 to 5.52)
> Depression sank (15% to 12%)

Starting now: press conference where we present the Mental Health Days Study 2025.

Livestream/rewatch: www.mentalhealthdays.eu

Later in the year, the team will come together again for a methods workshop in Oxford, as we refine tools, shared metrics, and approaches to translating research findings into policies for healthier digital futures.

Here’s to a thoughtful, collaborative, and hopeful 2026! (3/3)

We have already made progress on Work Package 2 focus groups, centering authentic youth perspectives and aligning our research more closely with lived digital experiences. (2/3)

Happy New Year from Team PROMISE! ✨

As we step into 2026, we’re looking ahead to some key milestones.

We’ll finalize our scoping review (WP1) - bringing together fragmented social media policy proposals and identifying evidence gaps across Europe and beyond. (1/3)

Welcome to Bluesky, @evaziegltrum.bsky.social 👋

🎉 The PROMISE project now has an official website!

This is where we’ll be sharing updates on our research into social media, platform design, and youth well-being - plus news, team info, and open-access outputs as they’re released.

🔗 promiseproject.univie.ac.at

Curious about how smartphones shape children’s development?

We’re recruiting a Postdoctoral Researcher for 3(+2) years for a cutting-edge randomized controlled trial conducted in collaboration with @orbenamy.bsky.social and her team.

iwm-tuebingen.de/en/career/jo...

We need transparency standards for social media research that involves companies | PNAS We need transparency standards for social media research that involves companies

In the 2020 Election Project, Meta collaborated w/ academics to study how FB impacts elections.
⬇️ @aanixel.bsky.social, @fassiluisa.bsky.social & I argue that such research collaborations, w/ clear conflicts of interest, should be regulated. Would love to hear thoughts!💬
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Team dinners, and a visit to the Nuremberg Christmas Market, rounded out the experience, and helped build a warm sense of community. We left feeling energized for the work ahead, and excited for all that’s to come for PROMISE. (4/4)

Other Workshop highlights:

- a keynote by Pascal Schneiders on social media policy enforcement;

- presentations by each of our PhD researchers on thesis proposals; and

- rich discussions on methods, shared metrics, team values, and building strong cross-country collaboration (3/4)

Over two days, we dug deep into our shared mission: understanding and improving the digital environments that shape young people’s lives.
We went into detail on each Work Plan: refined timelines and explored how each research stream connects for meaningful social and policy impact. (2/4)

We just wrapped an energizing 2-day workshop in Nuremberg - the first in-person meeting of the full PROMISE team! Hosted by our colleagues at Friedrich-Alexander University, the meetup marked a first milestone in our 3-year international project. (1/4)

Starting our first workshop on theory with a view …

At PROMISE, we'll contribute to this discussion by examining how policies, platform design choices, and online environments can shape youth well-being.
(4/4)

With this vote, MEPs are raising the alarm about serious risks for youth well-being online and calling on platforms to redesign for safety by default.
(3/4)

Proposed measures include: banning addictive design tricks (like infinite scroll, autoplay, reward loops), ending engagement-based recommendations for minors, and supporting privacy-preserving age-verification tools such as an EU eID wallet. (2/4)

🚨 Big news from Brussels: The @europarl.europa.eu has voted overwhelmingly in favor of a resolution calling for a minimum age of 16 for access to social media: www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/pres...
(1/4)

Our goal at PROMISE is to connect with recent digital developments, conversations, research and events to ensure project findings are both current and relevant for society. (3/3)

The event provided a space for digital rights advocates, policy makers, and technologists, to critically analyze barriers to digital safety and progress. (2/3)

This week, PROMISE outreach and policy impact coordinator Jen Adams from the Comms Policy Collaborative, attended #MozFest2025 where this year's theme was 'unlearning'. (1/3)

- Considering practical implications for policy and governance.

Collaboration is essential for research that informs change.
#PROMISEproject #DigitalPolicy #YouthWellbeing

- Producing data for evidence-based social media policies and youth digital well-being,