Pro's and Con's of #Screentime and Screen Based Media for Encouraging Behavior Change

We have been actively tracking articles on the effects of screen time on children, as they appear in the press. Yesterday The British Psychology Society posted a write up on a new study... "Children who spend too much time in front of TV screens and electronic devices could be at risk of damaging their wellbeing".

 The results are rather profound:"It was found that electronic media seemed to be linked to poorer wellbeing, with the risk of emotional problems increasing with every additional hour of watching TV or electronic game and computer use."

 But here is the conundrum, many application developers and academics have been excited for the past fifteen years or so about leveraging digital media to promote wellbeing. The booming activity tracker space and quantified self movement all harness screen based media with goal setting and progress data tracking for just this purpose.

 Time will tell, as there are many ongoing studies weighing the pro's and con's, and eventually we will have a better understanding on not only the efficacy of screen based media for encouraging behavior change but also the potential risks involved for consumption of screen based media in general.

image credit:
http://www.text100.com/hypertext/2012/07/the-digital-self-how-to-use-data-become-a-better-worker/