Marc & Fran from Big Boom Digital join us in the studio for episode #076 of Paddy Holohan's No Shame Podcast. Big Boom Digital are a Social Media Management, Design & Digital Marketing agency for small business. They have been working with us over the last 3 months to help grow the No Shame brand & increase our online presence. The main focus of the episode is the launch of EPOCH Ireland, a campaign Marc & Fran have designed to raise awareness on the current crisis in kids mental health & to empower parents to delay smartphone ownership for children until at least 14 years of age.
The beginning of the episode briefly focuses on the work Big Boom Digital have done with the No Shame Podcast, how our numbers have seen significant increase & furthermore the importance of targeting followers that actually like the content we produce. When we first started working with Big Boom they looked at improving what worked well for us & being consistent with our content. Like all good programs, it takes time & you have to stick to the plan but the more you put in, the more you get out & we've been delighted with the results.
Watch episode #076 of Paddy Holohan's No Shame Podcast below:
After listening to a Joe Rogan podcast in which, American social psychologist, Jonathan Haidt, discussed the harmful effects smart phones & social media were having on kids, both Marc & Fran were inspired to begin work on launching the Epoch Ireland Campaign.
In his book, 'The Coddling of The American Mind' Haidt talks about the rapid rise in mental health issues in the iGen/Gen Z with the main reason being overprotective parenting & the use of smartphones/social media. The iGens (born after 1995) have never lived in a world without internet & this generation has seen a massive rise in mental health issues, self harm & suicide.
Marc relays some of the graphs & theories discussed in the book along with his own findings & research to suggest the same trends are emerging in Ireland. Perhaps the most startling discovery is the shocking impact the technology is having on girls in particular with research showing a dramatic rise in hospital admissions since 2009.
Listen/download episode #076 of Paddy Holohan's No Shame Podcast below:
Fran offers her own opinion on this from a female perspective highlighting how boys tend to be more physical with bullying, whereas with girls it's mental/ verbally oriented. Girls also use their phones more & there is an unrealistic perception created from filters/edited images, putting pressure on kids to look a certain way. For girls there is a fear of missing out (FOMO) & a fear of being left out (FOBLO) & smart phones are the perfect platform for those feelings to grow, increasing anxiety levels.
Research has proven that Social media has the same addictive qualities as slot machines & cocaine. Under 14 years of age is where bullying is most prevalent & this is why it's imperative to prevent the introduction of smartphones until then. Paddy compares this research to Fortnite suggesting that if similar studies were to be carried out on the that game, the results would be even more startling.
The aim of the Epoch Ireland campaign is to make smart phones & social media as unacceptable to young children of the next generation as drugs & alcohol are today. In the 80's it was acceptable for a mother to drink on a pregnancy, whiskey helped babies to sleep & once upon a time cars didn't have seatbelts. That sounds stupid now but back then people didn't know any better & now that there is precedent for the affects this technology is causing to our kids, it's important that we do something about it.
The good news is there are solutions, Marc talks about the Blennerville Pilot, conducted by a primary school in Kerry in which, principal, Terry O Sullivan & the parents agreed to prohibit kids from using smart phones & social media at home. The results were instant & kids returned to being kids.
The Epoch campaign takes inspiration from the 'Wait until the 8th' model in America in which kids are not allowed a smart phone until the 8th Grade. There are also simple, effective solutions for kids that already have a smartphone such as 'iKydz' an app that allows parents to control their kids use of social media.
The Epoch campaign is at an early stage, Marc & Fran are looking for all the help they can get to springboard the Epoch initiative into the mainstream. If you're a parent, a teacher or just interested in getting involved then follow epoch ireland on instagram or email epochireland@gmail.com. These guys are genuine, have kids of there own & are doing what they can to help their own community. We wish them the best of luck with their campaign, it's an extremely important one for the safety of our children's mind.
If you're a small business then make sure you check out Big Boom Digital, we can't recommend them highly enough, they are so easy to work with & will tailor a social media plan to your needs, helping you to target the people you want to reach.
For more see: www.bigboomdigital.ie
or follow on Instagram: @bigboomdigital
Episode #076 of Paddy Holohan's No Shame Podcast is available now across all the usual platforms including Youtube, iTunes & Spotify, check it out now & if you could give us an aul like, subscribe, whatever you're having yourself, that would be great, No Shame.
