Most Powerful Women Summit 2024: Social (Media) Studies - A Conversation With Emmy Award-Winning Documentarian Lauren Greenfield - video Dailymotion

Fortune

Lauren Greenfield, Emmy Award-winning Filmmaker Interviewer: Maryam Banikarim, Fortune

Transcript

00:00Let's turn our attention to a topic that is really already playing a role in shaping the next generation of leaders,

00:07and that is social media and how it impacts our brains, our happiness, and our lives more generally.

00:13The Emmy award-winning filmmaker Lauren Greenfield explores social media's influence on teens in particular

00:21in her new docu-series, which is called Social Studies.

00:25It offers a really intimate look at a diverse group of L.A. high schoolers,

00:30revealing how social media shapes their lives from really joyful moments to quite harrowing consequences.

00:37Marion Banikarim will talk with Lauren in just a moment, but first, we've got a glimpse of this series for you to watch.

00:46Social media is kind of like the only way to communicate.

00:48It's the only way you feel connected to anyone.

00:50I could be myself.

00:51I need a perfect body.

00:52I can't get rid of it.

00:53She was bullied.

00:54That makes you want to beat up somebody.

00:55It doesn't really end.

00:56It becomes everything.

01:01I always wanted to do this.

01:08I hoped to document the first generation that had grown up with social media their entire lives.

01:16Teenagers from Los Angeles agreed to share their private accounts and their digital experiences.

01:22School is starting.

01:24How many of you were asked to send a nude of yourself?

01:28If you put out content like Kim Kardashian did, maybe you'll get famous.

01:33My social media consumption is 12 hours a day.

01:38You edit your body to be something it's not.

01:41One of the major beauty standards is you kind of have to be Caucasian.

01:45People would just call you the N-word, so I took action, and they took my whole account down.

01:50It's frightening to see how sexualized some of these images are.

01:55I sort of don't want to look at my kids' TikTok.

01:58Gorgeous!

02:00The more time I spend on social media, the more anxious I feel.

02:04It is so scary that we are allowed to actually do this.

02:09Social media has a role in everything, doesn't it?

02:12It's hard to figure out what you want, but you know what social media is telling you to want.

02:16There's so much hate. It did affect me a lot.

02:18Social media took a toll on me, but I'm not alone in this.

02:24It's up to us to figure out how we can still be people.

02:29Hello, everyone.

02:30Just remember that we're going to take questions, so I'll start the interview,

02:34but this is when you should be thinking about your questions,

02:36and a mic will be brought to you if you raise your hand.

02:39So, Lauren, you worked on this project for two years.

02:431,200 hours of footage, 2,000 hours of screen time.

02:47How did you get to this point?

02:49Well, I think it all started with a friend of mine,

02:52and I think it all started with a friend of mine,

02:552,000 hours of footage, 2,000 hours of screen time.

02:58You were trying to explore what it was like for kids who grew up with a smartphone in their hand.

03:03What surprised you the most about this project?

03:06Oh, my gosh. A lot of surprises.

03:08I mean, I have been looking at youth culture for 30 years.

03:11My first book, Fast Forward, Growing Up in the Shadow of Hollywood,

03:14looked at some of the similar things, the influence of fame,

03:17the influence of materialism, the importance of image,

03:22and what I saw was just everything amplified to the nth degree,

03:27that a big part of childhood now is about getting fame,

03:31getting likes, doing branding, cultivating an image.

03:35I think the early loss of innocence, which was also something I looked at 30 years ago,

03:41but then just looking at how media was impacting,

03:43like cable TV and movies and music, which seems pretty benign now,

03:48now the loss of innocence comes when one gets their smartphone

03:54and basically the whole world is kind of coming at them.

03:57You told me that when you started, you had a 14-year-old son and a 20-year-old son,

04:01and you were surprised at how there was a difference

04:04between a 14-year-old's experience and a 20-year-old's experience.

04:07What does that mean?

04:09Yeah, that was really an inspiration for going back and looking at this thing

04:12because I saw that my 14-year-old was a different generation than my 20-year-old,

04:16that my 20-year-old used social media to talk to friends a little bit,

04:20but he was really a reader.

04:22And my youngest, we had constant battles about screen time.

04:26He gets all his news from TikTok.

04:29And I saw that it was an addiction.

04:32Well, I also saw him getting depressed from it during COVID when screen time increased.

04:37So I really wanted to look at what is this thing that they're looking at.

04:40And the unique part about the series is that the kids gave us access to their phones.

04:45And so we see all of that content in real time,

04:49and it's all in the kid's point of view, teenager's point of view.

04:53There are no experts. They're the experts.

04:56You not only got access to the kids and their digital habits,

05:00not just their social habits, you also got access to parents.

05:03How were you able to get them to open up to you in the way that you did?

05:07Because they're pretty open.

05:08I mean, I actually didn't start thinking the parents would be a part of it at all.

05:13I thought it would be more like Charlie Brown,

05:15where we just kind of see them in the background.

05:17But I think, first of all, I came into this as a parent, not knowing that much.

05:24And what I saw that was so shocking was how caring, loving parents

05:31are completely clueless about what's going on, often right next to them.

05:35Sorry, clueless about what?

05:37About this social media life, which I think is the biggest cultural influence

05:44on young people's lives, like bigger than parents, bigger than school,

05:48bigger than peers.

05:50And it's like a black hole where parents don't know what's going on.

05:54You talk a lot about sort of social media and comparison culture.

05:58And I thought that was a really interesting insight

06:01into what's driving a lot of the anxiety.

06:02What does that mean?

06:04Yeah, I mean, one of the things that's so toxic is the constant comparison.

06:09And teenagers have always dealt with insecurities.

06:13Am I popular?

06:15Can I be in the popular group?

06:17Do kids like me?

06:19Comparing against other kids in their friend group,

06:23against a popular group, against the kids in the school.

06:26Now young people are comparing themselves against every peer group

06:30in the world.

06:32And often those peers are FaceTuned, Photoshopped, manufactured, not real.

06:39So when it comes, and it's not just beauty,

06:43although beauty and body image was a huge thing,

06:46but also college pressure, also all kinds of comparisons.

06:53It's constant.

06:55Even one of the surprising things was that mental illness,

06:57in addition to exploding, is also a trend.

07:01Well, actually, you actually talked about suicidal ideation

07:06and how there was a Reddit that told you how to commit suicide.

07:10What was that all about?

07:12This is a little bit of a spoiler for episode five.

07:15Sorry.

07:17But yeah, I mean, I think what the algorithm does is it takes you,

07:22it kind of, and the teenagers are very aware of this,

07:24it kind of exploits your most private and delicate vulnerabilities.

07:31So it takes you by the hand and shows you how to do things.

07:36And sometimes that can be how to have a good eating disorder,

07:40how to be sicker, how to take action on suicidal thoughts.

07:45Kind of the worst things that we can imagine, it will take you there.

07:51So it's five episodes.

07:52I highly recommend watching it because, you know,

07:55it is a world we don't live in the same way.

07:58In episode five, Jonathan says,

08:00social media is our lifeline, but it's also a loaded gun.

08:04I think it's hard sometimes for parents or adults to understand

08:07what we're going through, even though they care.

08:09What role can parents play since it really isn't the world

08:13in which we grew up?

08:15Yeah, I mean, I think the first thing is parents need to know

08:18what's going on.

08:19I hope parents watch the series, watch it with your teenagers.

08:23We did an educational curriculum.

08:25We did a parent guide to spark conversation.

08:28Sometimes I hear from parents what Danny says in the trailer,

08:32which is I almost don't want to know.

08:34Actually, we really need to know.

08:36And I think teenagers are really relieved at parents and adults knowing.

08:41And I think that's why they kind of divulge their most private lives

08:45in this show so that people would know.

08:47So I think there's actually a lot that parents can do,

08:51but I also don't think it's fair to have it be on parents or on kids.

08:56I feel like I got into the battle with my son about screen time.

09:00I feel like that's the first thing we go to,

09:02is kind of blaming the victims.

09:04These apps are made to be addictive.

09:08We would not treat opiate addiction this way.

09:11And so to have it fall so squarely on the individual,

09:15I think does not work.

09:17We need collective action, both in schools, parent groups,

09:22regulation, corporate responsibility, all of it.

09:26There was another quote that struck me.

09:28One of the girls said, we're not doing well, but we can't get off.

09:31So it sort of goes to the addiction point that you're making.

09:33Yeah, I mean, I think that lifeline loaded gun is so important

09:37because it's part of growing up today.

09:42I mean, the show in a way is less about,

09:44it's not an issue film about social media.

09:45It's really about coming of age in the time of social media.

09:49It's also entertaining because the kids are so great.

09:52I don't want to scare you from watching it.

09:55But I think that what we see is that

09:58it's part and parcel of social life.

10:01And that's really important to teenagers too.

10:04So it's not a binary, like get rid of social media or keep it.

10:08It's the genie's out of the bottle.

10:10It's here, but it doesn't have to be the way it currently is.

10:13Okay, so I'm going to see if there's any questions.

10:15So if there's a question, please let us know.

10:18Why do you think the role of regulation is in this equation?

10:21I mean, every other media is regulated

10:24and it's just kind of shocking that this one is not

10:28and that also the tech companies have no responsibility for it.

10:31So I think regulation is important.

10:34But I also think that the engineering can be different.

10:38I was just watching the movie about Jim Henson

10:40and at the beginning of the children's television workshop

10:43when they brought on Jim Henson,

10:46the idea was to bring together people who know what kids love

10:51with people who know what kids need to learn.

10:54And that second piece was never there with tech.

10:57And it's always just been give kids

11:00what will create maximum engagement, maximum advertising,

11:04even if we know it's not in the best interest of young people.

11:07So growth at any cost.

11:09Okay, we have a question.

11:11Hi, I'm Laura Heisman.

11:13I have a 15-year-old daughter.

11:15And this, like my body's shaking right now

11:18because this hits me so hard.

11:21And my question is, with the kids that you spoke to,

11:25what can I learn from that about how to talk to my daughter

11:30so she'll share more about what's going on

11:33on Instagram and TikTok?

11:34I mean, I'm in marketing.

11:36I know what's going on in that.

11:38But I don't know what's going on enough.

11:41And I'm thankful when she opens up, but it's not enough.

11:45And I'm wondering if you learned anything

11:47from those conversations that can help me connect more with her.

11:51Thank you for your question.

11:53And I really appreciate your emotion.

11:55I think that knowing what's going on

11:59is actually a huge relief to young people.

12:01We premiered this show in Telluride Film Festival

12:04and afterwards, a 20-something and her mother came up to me

12:08and the 20-something said,

12:10it was really uncomfortable watching this with my mother

12:13because she knows nothing about my life,

12:15but I'm really glad she does now.

12:17And I found that too.

12:19There's one episode four, which is about sexuality

12:22and how kids learn about that.

12:24And one of the main educators is pornography.

12:27And one trend that really shocked me

12:31was BDSM and choking as a trend with teenagers.

12:37And hearing this from,

12:39we have a kind of focus group in the show

12:42where there's peer-to-peer conversation

12:44so that we can see if a problem is unique to one person or common.

12:49And really, we only include in the show the universal issues.

12:53And when I heard so many teenagers

12:55talking about this jaw-dropping trend,

12:58I went home and I asked my boys,

12:59like, is this real?

13:01And they validated it.

13:03She means, is the choking thing real?

13:05Yeah, and they validated it.

13:07And so I think,

13:09and I feel like it was a relief for them to talk about it

13:11because it's uncomfortable.

13:13And I think that that's why we did this parent guide

13:16because I think having conversations is so important.

13:19And also at school,

13:21one of the reasons we did this kind of roundtable discussion

13:24is the teenagers so wanted to talk about it

13:27and so wanted to know that they were not alone.

13:30Almost every teenager in the project said

13:34if they had a choice,

13:36they would rather be in their parents' generation

13:38before the phone.

13:40So 22 million Americans are age 15 to 19.

13:44They could be your kids, your employees, your consumers.

13:48What do you think we need to understand

13:50to really bridge this divide

13:52beyond sort of like reading the parent guide?

13:55I mean, I think we need to address

13:57what is a massive mental health issue,

14:00which has kind of been under the radar.

14:03I mean, the therapists that we've showed it to

14:06have started to cry,

14:08like there are not even enough therapists.

14:10So I think it's an urgent issue

14:13that we need to deal with.

14:15I feel like for this generation,

14:17the important thing is finding out about it.

14:19For the next generation,

14:21I think there is movement towards change.

14:24It's entirely possible.

14:25And I hope that that happens.

14:27Okay, so unfortunately,

14:29I know you're going to have a lot of questions.

14:31And actually, that's one of the reasons

14:33Lauren's staying for dinner.

14:35So I hope you find her

14:37because we've definitely been given the

14:39we're done with time.

14:41Thank you, Lauren.

14:43Can I add one thing?

14:45I just want to say we do need your help.

14:47This is an incredible room

14:49of marketing professionals.

14:51And young people don't watch Hulu and FX.

14:53They watch TikTok.

14:55We're doing a digital advertising campaign

14:57in getting the curriculum

14:59into every school in America

15:01and in really facing this issue.

15:03Sasha's here.

15:05So listen, I want you to find Lauren.

15:07I want you to watch the five-part episode.

15:09It really is the beginning.

15:11It's still rolling out now.

15:13And it's on Hulu and FX.

15:15And FX.

15:17Yeah, really good question.

15:19Common Sense Media recommends 14 Plus

15:22and gave it their highest approval.

Most Powerful Women Summit 2024: Social (Media) Studies - A Conversation With Emmy Award-Winning Documentarian Lauren Greenfield

Category

Transcript

Recommended