Social Media: Dangers & Ethics / module 1 of 3
The Attention Economy
The learner discovers that when the product is free, attention is the product, and audits how apps are engineered to keep them scrolling.
Guide
Open a feed together (parent's account). Scroll for two minutes and count: how many posts did you choose to see, and how many were chosen for you? Discuss who does the choosing and why. Introduce the core idea: apps earn money per minute of your attention. Then run the design hunt: find five features built to keep you scrolling (infinite scroll, autoplay, streaks, badges, pull-to-refresh). This module is about understanding, not banning; a learner who sees the machine is harder to use.
Material
- Feature hunt checklist (platform library)
- Short glossary: algorithm, engagement, monetization, data profile
Activities
Audit: screen-time report review, guessing numbers first, then facing reality. Experiment: interact with three posts of one topic, then document how the feed changes over two days. Family policy: learner drafts their own usage policy and defends it to the family.
You will need
A phone or computer with any social app, used under parent supervision.
Check yourself
Learner explains in their own words how a free app makes money, names five attention-holding design features from their own hunt, and produces a written personal usage policy.
Learn with AI
Ready-made prompts for this module. Copy one into your AI assistant and it becomes a patient tutor that follows the OSH method: no lecturing, no rote learning, hands-on activities included.
For the student
A tutor that teaches this module step by step, asks questions, and never just gives answers.
For the parent or teacher
A coach that helps you prepare, deliver, and troubleshoot this lesson.
How to set this up in ChatGPT, Gemini, or Claude
Safety note: children under 13 should use AI assistants together with a parent, and account age rules of each platform apply.