In this episode of Digital Dominoes, host Angeline Corvaglia interviews Sahaj Vaidya, an AI policy expert at SuperAlign. They explore how traditional cultural expectations influence the way children present themselves online, with a focus on the unique pressures faced by Indian adolescents. Sahaj discusses the balance between maintaining family values and embracing digital transformation, the impact of this duality on mental health, and the efforts by NGOs and schools to impart digital literacy. The episode looks at the generational gap in digital adoption, the influence of Western-trained AI models, and the importance of creating culturally tailored AI solutions. The conversation concludes with strategies for encouraging healthy social media habits and the potential role of social media in promoting diversity and authentic self-expression.
00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome
01:02 Cultural Perspectives on Digital Personas
03:00 Generational Differences in Digital Adaptation
04:30 Impact of Social Media on Adolescents
06:47 Efforts to Improve Digital Literacy
13:55 Challenges and Solutions for Families
17:53 Conclusion and Farewell
Special thanks to
Sahaj Vaidja for taking time to be a part of this episode!
Follow Sahaj on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/sahaj-vaidya-80624b129/
Episode sponsored by Data Girl and Friends
They are on a mission to build awareness and foster critical thinking about AI, online safety, privacy, and digital citizenship. They inspire the next generation to navigate the digital world confidently and responsibly through fun, engaging, and informative content. They focus on empowering young digital citizens and their families through engaging and informative learning.
Find out more at: https://data-girl-and-friends.com/
List of Data Girl and Friends materials about some of the topics covered:
- Article about protecting your authentic self when online: How to Balance Your Online Persona and Authenticity – Data Girl and Friends
- Educational workbook to do with your digital native, “Authenticity and Your Online Self” Authenticity and Your Online Self – 1
- Educational about safe usage of social media https://vimeo.com/916722746
Contact us for any questions or comments: https://digi-dominoes.com/contact-us/
Transcript
Thank you so much for being here. It's great to see you again. Hi, thank you so much for having me on this session today. Feels really great to be here and connect with you once again after a long period of time. And this also gives me an opportunity to connect with the audience and share my insights and experience based on the research that I have done.
first spoke. So, so much has [:to what I even know at all. [:to kind of unique pressures [:So for example, I want to go online and post something on say Instagram, then I would be a little hesitant for a few seconds and think like, huh, when will my family think about me if I post something like this, so the family values, the family expectations and thinking. Take a front seat. That's interesting.
Have you [:So have you seen any kind of [:So people are opening up and adapting to those things. But for people above a certain age, accepting those things is really difficult. Whereas for teens, adolescents, And maybe parents who are in their maybe early 30s or like that, but then it's becoming a daily norm. But for people above that age barrier, it's still a far away thing.
he relationships between the [:ural, I would say, avergence [:pressured to present a very [:And it's also in kind of the social media's popularity, this drive to highlight success online, it only leads to heightened stress and feelings of inadequacy. Yeah, exactly. I think that's a general problem, but even more so if you are not able to ever express yourself fully a hundred percent, because I know I'm.
pretty old, [:of life, as where someone of [:ts with images of, you know, [:which are coming forward in [:ple across the globe. So why [:But of course, you need to strike a balance between What is good to show and what should not be shown. Exactly, yeah. Yes, so schools these days are imparting this kind of education or providing literacy on the same to students in their early days so that they can know how they can use the social media platforms with a sense of discretion.
ng of and I've encountered a [:cause there's whole, I mean, [:le life documented on social [:I've seen that now Facebook [:originally mostly trained in [:It's a very good point that you make that because these algorithms are trained somewhere else in the world in the western region, um, somewhere in the U.S. or maybe the European Union. So the societal and cultural norms play a very important role. So now, now we know that the AI models work on the training data that is fed to them.
And the training data [:are performing very good in [:s. Because one of the things [:at risk of being lost. India [:izer. Exactly. And as social [:that at some point we will, [:or is this cultural emphasis [:in India, the system is that [:the online world, and that's [:So one of the first things is to teach critical thinking about media. and encourage healthy social media use like parents can foster the healthy habits by encouraging screen-free times discussing the purpose of social media and monitoring usage without being overly invasive. That is also one of the important things.
As a parent, you might [:g to, what I was doing. That [:t's just how much people are [:n other cultures, maybe it's [:And that's what I think when I think of the kids around here. Have you, uh, had that same experience? Right. Because as you mentioned that in, uh, the place where you live currently, family bears more importance. Similar is the case if you're in India. So, the parents and the family members who kind of model a balanced approach to social media can have a very positive influence on adolescence.
So [:these episodes short. Thank [:I appreciate it. And thank you for having me here today. Thank you. Bye.
k you so much for listening. [:Their mission is to build awareness and foster critical thinking about AI online safety. privacy, and digital citizenship through fun, engaging, and informative content. Check them out at data-girl-and-friends.com. Until next time, stay curious and keep learning. Digital dominoes.