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Pete Etchells

@peteetchells

Professor of Psychology and Science Communication | Award-winning science writer | Screen Time | Social Media | Smartphones | Video games | https://linktr.ee/unlockedbook

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15.05.2023
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Latest posts by Pete Etchells @peteetchells

Saw someone recently refer to Blink 182 as “late 20th century music”

09.03.2026 21:52 👍 5 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Preview
BBC Radio 4 - The Briefing Room, Should the Government ban social media for young people? What evidence is there that social media is harming young people?

Thank you to @davidsonofaaron.bsky.social for hosting a thoughtful discussion about social media ban proposals in the UK. It was a pleasure to contribute to this: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

19.02.2026 17:13 👍 6 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Free PR.

26.01.2026 09:26 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Bristol!

20.01.2026 08:47 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
A picture of the aurora borealis above a house.

A picture of the aurora borealis above a house.

Unexpected joy this evening:

19.01.2026 23:11 👍 22 🔁 1 💬 1 📌 0

Goodreads is *the worst*, no reviews are worth reading there!

19.01.2026 21:46 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0

Nothing personal taken! I really appreciate the feedback - and in this context I’m interested in how the message might be taken. If nothing else, thanks for taking the time to read the letter (even if it was just the first sentence 😄)

15.01.2026 10:18 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

That’s really useful to know, thank you - I’d never thought of it in that sense. Whenever I’ve used it, I’ve done so with sincerity, and I guess to signal good intentions. I’ll rethink that though.

15.01.2026 10:17 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0

Why, out of curiosity?

15.01.2026 09:52 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 3 📌 0

Of course! Always happy to chat through the evidence.

14.01.2026 21:50 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Clearly seems to be a waste of postage though.

14.01.2026 20:30 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0

The UK has some of the best social media and digital tech effects researchers in the world. I find it mind-boggling they haven’t been considered first.

14.01.2026 20:28 👍 33 🔁 4 💬 1 📌 1

About 18 months ago I sent this letter, along with a copy of my book, to a number of MPs and peers, including Wes Streeting. I never got a response (which to be fair was my baseline expectation), but it’s still disheartening to see today’s news about Haidt’s invitation to speak to policymakers.

14.01.2026 20:26 👍 47 🔁 29 💬 7 📌 1

Genuinely deflated by this.

14.01.2026 18:35 👍 4 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0

Same. We need a coordinated effort to support science communicators so it’s not just individual people vainly trying to make a difference in a very big, messy, noisy system.

11.01.2026 10:15 👍 7 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
Post image
30.12.2025 23:25 👍 3 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Works the other way around too.

“If I was Jonathan Haidt, how would I destroy the next generation?”

02.12.2025 15:35 👍 135 🔁 44 💬 9 📌 11

The man who inspired Australia's teen social media ban literally did this:

02.12.2025 04:09 👍 274 🔁 69 💬 2 📌 0

More displeased at the eviction, I think!

04.11.2025 17:41 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
A picture of a long-haired cat

A picture of a long-haired cat

Unauthorised student turned up to today’s research methods class, I guess they wanted to brush up on their meow-tiple regression skills?

04.11.2025 17:10 👍 29 🔁 1 💬 3 📌 0

Two exciting ERC-funded PhD positions on attention and technology use with @matti.vuorre.com

I’ll be an (external) part of the supervision team and can highly recommend this department @tilburg-university.bsky.social

tiu.nu/22989

23.10.2025 17:12 👍 12 🔁 7 💬 0 📌 0

Thanks Kate! Always happy to chat, Richard.

17.10.2025 21:49 👍 3 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0

I had the vaccination Tuesday. Tested positive yesterday 🤦‍♂️ rank bad timing.

10.10.2025 13:45 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
Preview
Is Jonathan Haidt right about smartphones? In ‘The Anxious Generation’, Haidt makes the case that social media and smartphones have ‘rewired’ today’s teenagers, but his critics say the evidence tells us something very different - and that bann...

“It’s really difficult to craft a story that explains the complexity of the research literature, but still gives people something to take away with them to do. And that’s what parents are craving' @peteetchells.bsky.social
@jonsevers.bsky.social @tesmagazine.bsky.social
www.tes.com/magazine/tea...

03.09.2025 13:27 👍 10 🔁 5 💬 1 📌 0

I believe the blue one’s name is Leonardo.

02.09.2025 15:00 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

So it turns out I'm on the editorial board for a scam journal (news to me!). "Istoriya" is a SCOPUS-indexed journal apparently, but it's not this one: istoriya.ac. Two journals with the same name and ISSN, but different editorial boards - one entirely fabricated but using real academics.

22.08.2025 13:07 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0

I have a very deep distrust of IAI and how they set up debates. If nothing else, they run paid ticketed events and don’t offer fees.

21.08.2025 09:46 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0

I broke so many joysticks playing this game. The wiggle you had to do to activate a power up 🫠

17.08.2025 14:27 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0

@taylorlorenz.bsky.social hi Taylor, where’s the best place to send a message or email? I have a book coming out in the US next week and I was wondering if you’d be interested in a copy.

11.08.2025 22:52 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Thanks Ali!

03.08.2025 13:35 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0