Lauren Richter

Digitalized existential meaning-making

- On the intersections between social media, AI, and young women's existential health: from analysis to future-oriented design

My PhD-research sits within the domain of Human-Computer Interaction with an interest in the role of technology in shaping human consciousness and well-being. In Sweden, young women are the most avid users of social media, while reported mental health issues have increased in the same group.

My work addresses concepts such as meaningfulness, hope, wholeness, wonder, and transcendence – that is, existential health, which can be described as experiences of direct well-being, or as the expanded possibility to be with ill-being, which relates to existential meaning-making. Existential meaning-making involves processes that include reflection, conceptual systems, experiences, and actions in relation to existential questions.

The use of social media and its correlation with aspects of existential health over time is investigated, as well as the architecture of interfaces and AI-driven streams on social media. The culmination of my dissertation work is dedicated to young women's own future-oriented design through speculative, creative, and participatory workshops where the design of social media with explicit consideration for promoting existential health is explored. This process is also informed by expert knowledge generated in emotionally highlighted workshops involving researchers in AI (or machine learning), as well as through interviews with clinically active psychologists and psychotherapists.

The purpose of this research project is to investigate the interaction between the use, as well as the design, of AI-driven social media and existential health among young women in Sweden:

• How do different social media platforms, types of interaction, and time spent on the platforms correlate with existential health among young women aged 15-29 in Sweden over time?
• What kind of arena does AI-driven social media platforms, such as TikTok, constitute for digitalized existential meaning-making based on the design and affordances?
• How do young women envision future and alternative social media platforms intentionally designed to promote existential health?
• How do AI researchers as well as clinically active psychologists and psychotherapists assist young women in co-creation when emotionally highlighted knowledge is generated through expert workshops?