A tool for understanding the psychological impact of online content: guest blog by Aestora
The internet plays a crucial role in shaping young minds, yet concerns about online safety, misinformation, and manipulation remain significant. Young people and their parents often lack the tools needed to gain meaningful oversight of digital content consumption. This gap in understanding and control has driven the development of the Digital Health Score.
Introducing the Digital Health Score
Aestora has developed an AI-powered Digital Health Score - a simple, 1-5 rating system designed to help users, and parents, see the likely psychological impact of online content. Inspired by the clarity of food labels, this tool provides an easy-to-understand evaluation of digital experiences, empowering users to make informed decisions about their online engagement.
Of course, no AI system is perfect. To refine its accuracy, over 250 people across the UK have downloaded the Chrome extension and are using it to review the predicted emotional intensity of content. Through their feedback, the public is actively teaching the AI model what is and isn’t emotionally impactful for teenagers, ensuring that the system aligns with real-world experiences and values.
Collaboration with CORC
Since November 2024, Aestora has partnered with CORC to explore public perceptions of the Digital Health Score through an RTO grant. This initiative includes a series of workshops designed to evaluate how different user groups - young people, parents, and clinicians - view the tool's categorisation and methodology.
The project has focused on two key questions:
- How do potential users, teenagers, parents and clinical staff perceive the validity of the Digital Health Score’s categorisation and methodology?
- What are the perceived strengths and concerns regarding the Digital Health Score, and what recommendations can be made to enhance its development?
Findings and Recommendations
Through focus groups and interviews with young people, parents, and clinicians, several key recommendations have emerged:
- Integration with Mobile and Social Media Platforms – Young people primarily consume content through social media and mobile apps. Once the API is fully validated, expanding the Digital Health Score to analyze social media content on mobile devices would significantly increase its effectiveness.
- Clinical Collaboration on Sentiment Analysis – Partnering with clinicians to refine the list of sentiments used in the analysis would ensure that the tool remains clinically relevant and aligns with current research on how young people experience emotions.
- Clear Positioning and Communication – The Digital Health Score's unique value proposition must be clearly articulated in marketing materials and on the website. This includes outlining the motivations behind its development, providing supporting evidence, and highlighting the team involved in its creation.
- Develop Supporting Resources - Create materials to help young people manage their wellbeing when their score fluctuates. This could include links to self-help tools, mental health organizations, and recommendations for positive content or mindful activities. Additionally, provide guidance for parents on how to use the tool in conversations with their children.
You can learn more about the project here, and test out the chrome extension for yourself here.
The Path Forward
Stephanie Antonian, founder of Aestora has shared that:
