Digital Wellbeing: What is it?

30 May Digital Wellbeing: What is it?

The concept of ‘digital wellbeing’ has popped up all over the digital world in the past few years – as a Google program, an Android app, a TikTok feature, even an UNESCO Council.

But what does digital wellbeing actually mean? And is it something that’s possible to achieve in an attention-based digital economy?

The UNESCO Council sets as its definition of digital wellbeing;

“The enhancement and improvement of human well-being, in the intermediate and long term, through the use of digital media,” 

UNESCO, Forum for Well-being in Digital Media

Here are Our 7 Principles of Digital Wellbeing

#1 Keeping Safe and Being Well

You should be able to use and explore the digital world and keep safe. More than that, your experiences should positively enhance your mental health rather than detract from it.

#2 Achieving Your Goals

Using the digital world should help you to achieve your personal goals; whether that’s in education, in being informed about the world about you, to be entertained or to connect.

#3 Self-expression

Self-expression through creativity is crucial for the development of our identity, confidence and belonging. Self-expression helps us communicate our feelings in a positive way and the digital environment should enable us to do that.

#4 Connecting With Others

One of the most important benefits of digital spaces is the way in which they allow us to connect with others. The desire for connection is a fundamental human need and we should be able to connect in a way that enhances our lives.

#5 Being Inspired

Seeing how others are expressing themselves and impacting the world can inspire and motivate us – digital wellbeing means finding sources of inspiration online.

#6 Growing Your Skills

Learning new skills and accessing education online enhances our sense of digital wellbeing.

#7 Having Impact

A feeling that we are making a difference, impacting others and effecting positive change, should form part of digital wellbeing.

Try Our Ultimate Guide to Digital Wellbeing

If you want to explore digital wellbeing more, the ultimate guide to digital wellbeing is in our online course.

Who is the digital wellbeing course for?

This course is designed for anyone who struggles in their relationship with technology. It’s for you if you:

• Are desperate for a break from working but can never seem to log off
• Waste too much time endlessly scrolling
• Struggle with sleep/ concentration or creativity
• Want to learn easy techniques to help you switch off from tech

You can start it whenever you like and work through it at your own pace.

What’s included?

The course is designed to be six weeks long (but you can take it at your own speed), and in that time we guide you through four weeks of learning about technology addiction and methods to help you log off, followed by a two week digital detox, which we support you through. You get:

• 13x videos from founder, Tanya Goodin, explaining the content and motivating you along the journey
• 2x quizzes to help you quantify the extent of any tech addiction at the beginning of the course and to assess your change at the end
• Curated weekly reading lists
• Weekly quizzes to ascertain your understanding
• 3x downloadable resources unique to the course, which you can use beyond the course to help keep you on track

There’s a discount of 25% off for readers of this article.

In the meantime, use these seven principles as a reference to ensure the digital world is enhancing, not detracting from your life, and your health and wellbeing.