Document Type
Editorial
Publication Date
10-11-2023
Abstract
"The rapid advancement of digital technology has transformed society and undeniably impacted wellbeing. With the advent of smartphones and social media, a host of empirical articles, popular press pieces, non-fiction books, and documentaries have highlighted the potential negative effects of technology, such as addiction, loneliness, and depression (e.g., Alter, 2017; Twenge et al., 2018; Orlowski, 2020). While it is important to acknowledge and address the potentially detrimental effects of this increasing technological reliance, we believe that it is imperative that researchers, developers, and users embrace a more balanced approach that also recognizes the positive potential of digital technology to support wellbeing. This Research Topic demonstrates a variety of ways in which technological tools can be both designed and used to maximize wellbeing across a range of domains. These studies collectively emphasize a critical message: for the most part technology itself is neither good nor bad, but how technological affordances are harnessed determines their impact on wellbeing. While we cannot ignore potential pitfalls, recognizing and leveraging the positive potential of digital technology is a paramount endeavor as technology becomes further integrated in our lives."
Recommended Citation
Hunter JF, Walsh LC, Chan C-K and Schueller SM (2023) Editorial: The good side of technology: how we can harness the positive potential of digital technology to maximize well-being. Front. Psychol. 14:1304592. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1304592
Copyright
The authors
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Comments
This article was originally published in Frontiers in Psychology, volume 14, in 2023. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1304592