Happiness2.0
Social media use and well-being in adolescence
SNSF Rolling Agora project
Aim of the initiative
Happiness2.0 Lab aims to offer science-based communication activities to 14-to-18-year-old adolescents living in Ticino, parents, and stakeholders.
We will discuss how social media use influences adolescents’ well-being over time, considering positive well-being indicators (e.g., happiness) and developmental processes like personality formation and the need for social connections. Happiness2.0 includes two weeks of a 2-hour laboratory, “HappyLab” that combines science and arts.
That will be followed by HappyApero activities, during which teens will engage with experts, parents, and adults. Finally, during the HappyTable, stakeholders, teachers, and high school principals will be invited to reflect on the activity of 2024 and launch the Happiness2.0 for 2025.
Project activities
HappyLab
The HappyLab includes two weeks (in Spring and Autumn 2024) of a 2-hour laboratory. It will be repeated twice per day, with one high school class (~ 20 students) invited per time, for a total of about 20 classes (~ 400 students in total).
It will include three parts:
- An introduction to communication concepts by a research expert;
- A practical activity inspired by creative literature examples on the role of “masks” as symbols of the difference between an online fictitious identity and a real identity;
- A reflection on what it means to be happy for them. Classical literature examples from Aristotle’s “The Nicomachean Ethics” will be read to define happiness (e.g., hedonic versus eudaimonic happiness). They will create a shared “Happiness2.0 Pyramid” (i.e., to define their happiness in the current state of the Internet, i.e. 2.0, including user-generated content via social media)
HappyApero
The HappyApero aims to foster communication between adolescents, scientists, and the adult public (including parents and teachers).
- A group of adolescents who participated in the HappyLab will be invited to share their experiences with other adolescents in a peer-to-peer interview format.
HappyTable
The HappyTable aims to summarize the Happiness2.0 project’s activities.In collaboration with the Culture Division, City of Lugano, we will invite all high school principals of Ticino, interested teachers, representatives from parental associations, and stakeholders working with adolescents in Ticino.
- We will deliver printed brochures with the project summary and we will promote the continuation of the HappyLab project for the following year, which will be based on the visual arts-in line with the IBSA Foundation's Culture and Health program.
Project activities
TABLE OF CONTENTS
HappyLab
The HappyLab includes two weeks (in Spring and Autumn 2024) of a 2-hour laboratory. It will be repeated twice per day, with one high school class (~ 20 students) invited per time, for a total of about 20 classes (~ 400 students in total).
It will include three parts:
- An introduction to communication concepts by a research expert;
- A practical activity inspired by creative literature examples on the role of “masks” as symbols of the difference between an online fictitious identity and a real identity. A debriefing with a mental health expert will follow;
- A reflection on what it means to be happy for them. Classical literature examples from Aristotle’s “The Nicomachean Ethics” will be read to define happiness (e.g., hedonic versus eudaimonic happiness). They will create a shared “Happiness2.0 Pyramid” (i.e., to define their happiness in the current state of the Internet, i.e. 2.0, including user-generated content via social media)
HappyApero
The HappyApero aims to foster communication between adolescents, scientists, and the adult public (including parents and teachers).
- A group of adolescents who participated in the HappyLab will be invited to share their experiences with other adolescents in a peer-to-peer interview format.
Adolescents will share their experiences with the adult public and ask questions to invited research experts.
HappyTable:
The HappyTable aims to summarize the Happiness2.0 project’s activities.In collaboration with the Culture Division, City of Lugano, we will invite all high school principals of Ticino, interested teachers, representatives from parental associations, and stakeholders working with adolescents in Ticino.
- We will deliver printed brochures with the project summary and we will promote the continuation of the HappyLab project for the following year, which will be based on the visual arts-in line with the IBSA Foundation's Culture and Health program.
Aim of the initiative
Happiness2.0 Lab includes a series of communication activities (HappyLab, HappyApero, and HappyTable) designed for adolescents, aiming at translating scientific results into practice, through the combination of science and arts.
Useful information
IBSA Foundation for Scientific Research, Lugano, Switzerland
In collaboration with:
USI, Università della Svizzera Italiana
Harvard Chan T.H. School of Public Health Department of Social and Behavioral Science, the Lee Kum Sheung Center for Health and Happiness
Dr. Silvia Misiti, IBSA Foundation for scientific research and Prof. Peter J. Schulz, USI Università della Svizzera italiana
Jacopo Crespi, IBSA Foundation for scientific research
Sara Comodo, IBSA Foundation for scientific research
Alessia Robbiani, USI Università della Svizzera Italiana, University of Lausanne - EPFL
Pietro Bianchi, USI Università della Svizzera Italiana
Dario Gennari, Rete Operativa
Department of Education, Culture and Sport (DECS)
SIMS - Section of Middle and Higher Education
Parent Assembly, Lugano 1 High School
Equal Opportunity Service, USI
Cultural Division of the City of Lugano