Technology

I would say the following things would help:

•	Rethink the way our cities are built and reduce the ratio of work to weekends so that people can find time and have ease in going to spaces where they can interact with others socially.

•	Allow for the construction of third spaces, especially for adolescents. Seriously, as a teenager in the 2010s, the amount of surveillance and regulation by parents and schools was kinda insane. It pushes teenagers online, as it’s the one place where they tend to have an edge on their elders enough to break free from it. (And it also normalizes invasions of privacy by corporations.)

•	Withhold judgment by mass public opinion for minor transgressions. We have all said things that make us cringe at ourselves down the line when we think of them, or even when reminded of the perhaps more innocent action of simply looking foolish. It is little wonder, then, that people, already socially withered from lack of experience, shy away from the very actions that might give them confidence when faced with the potential for public immortalization of these acts via the internet.

•	Regulate platforms to reduce the existing profitability of addiction. It is no contest when the largest companies spend billions and employ thousands to keep their users under their thrall. The only recourse for the individual is to join in group action to wield the power of government for the public good.

While by no means an exhaustive list, I feel as though if we follow the steps of RAWR, we can at least make an incremental improvement.