Hi everyone, and welcome back to Substack Live with the Sustainable Media Center! I’m Emma Lembke, and I’m so glad to be joined today by our Executive Director, Steve Rosenbaum, and special guest Nicki Reisberg, the powerhouse behind the Scrolling to Death movement and a leading voice in Parents in Action — a community helping families rethink digital habits and reclaim intentional living. Today’s focus is one that hits home for a lot of people in our network: how parents can take action to build a healthier digital world for themselves and their kids.
Let’s start by diving into Nicki’s work with Scrolling to Death. Nicki, your site and campaign have become a rallying point for parents, teens, and educators who are done feeling powerless in the face of endless scrolling. Could you tell us: What inspired the creation of the movement? What kinds of actions or community responses have you seen since launching? And maybe, what’s one story that’s really stayed with you from this work?
Now, Nicki, we saw that you just announced a new project- “The Heat is On”. Can you tell listeners a bit more about this collaborative project and why now was the right moment to launch?
Now, @Steve, as a parent and supporter– what has been your response and reaction to Nicki’s work? Do you think parents largely know what is happening or do you think podcast and people like Nicki are necessary to teach parents about the perils of the digital age?
Moving to this week’s big headline from The New York Times: “Instagram Will Limit Content for Teenagers Based on PG-13 Ratings.” This is a major development, essentially, Meta is introducing movie-style age ratings to determine what younger users can see.Let’s unpack that a bit:
Nicki, from a parent’s perspective, does this feel like a step forward? Or just PR gloss?
@Steve , what does this signal about how platforms are responding to policy and public pressure?
To close out today’s discussion, let’s go a little creative and ask each other: If you could wave your magic advocacy wand, what is one design feature you would add — or one feature you’d make disappear — to help parents parent in the digital world? Think interface-level design, algorithm transparency, attention prompts, screen-time defaults — whatever comes to mind.
Thank you both for such a thoughtful discussion — and thank you, Nicki, for bringing your voice, passion, and community-driven energy to this space.
For everyone tuning in, check out scrolling2death.com to learn more about how you can get involved in the movement, and stay tuned to the Sustainable Media Center for our next Substack Live.
