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This Substack Live session features Emma Lembke interviewing youth advocate Maddie Freeman about her journey, her nonprofit NoSo November, and the broader movement for healthier digital environments.
Maddie explains that her advocacy began after experiencing depression and anxiety tied to early social media use, combined with the loss of several friends to suicide. In high school she launched a petition for more mental health support, which led to real policy changes in her school district. Watching The Social Dilemma then pushed her toward digital wellness advocacy, and she piloted the first No Social Media November challenge with a classroom of students. Their positive outcomes, including reduced anxiety and improved body image, led her to build NoSo into a full nonprofit with global reach.
She shares a story about a student who approached her after a school talk in Florida, saying she was in crisis and had not considered social media as a factor. After taking on the detox challenge, the student reported major emotional improvements and has since become interested in advocacy. Maddie describes that moment as a powerful validation of her work.
They discuss how awareness translates to systemic action. Maddie notes that real change requires multiple stakeholders working together: schools, nonprofits, funders, local government, and especially young people who are both the heaviest users and most affected. At McGill’s Center for Media, Technology, and Democracy, she has seen how interdisciplinary collaboration helps surface different views on policy and design.
When asked about ideal government action, she argues that most policy today plays whack-a-mole by targeting individual harms, while ignoring the business model that drives them. She believes the core problem is the attention-for-profit incentive structure that inflames mental health harms, polarization, hate, and addictive design. She imagines regulation that either discourages or bans that model, gives users more control over their feeds, and increases transparency around persuasive design.
Asked to name one design change she would make, Maddie chooses removing infinite scroll or heavy recommendation algorithms. She recalls that before recommendation-heavy feeds, scrolling had a natural stopping point, which helped people self-regulate. Now, with Instagram and YouTube feeding endless content, even activists who understand persuasive design struggle to maintain healthy habits.
They close with mutual appreciation and a short plug for NoSo November’s website and social accounts.
