OUT NOW:
“Tanya Goodin’s new book is informative, alarming and galvanising.”
The Telegraph
“Over the last two decades I've watched digital technologies morph from faithful servants to manipulative masters. My work on digital wellbeing, tech ethics, and responsible technology is all about putting you, me, and the next generation back in the driving seat.”
Tanya Goodin
Tanya is a trailblazing author, pioneering thinker and campaigner on digital wellbeing and tech ethics, founder of the digital detox movement Time to Log Off and host of the ‘It’s Complicated’ podcast. Her game-changing books on our relationship with technology, ‘My Brain Has Too Many Tabs Open’, ‘Off’and ‘Stop Staring at Screens’, are published in ten languages worldwide.
She hasn’t always been a ‘digital canary’. As an award-winning digital entrepreneur and instinctive trend spotter, Tanya spent two decades running one of Britain’s first digital businesses. Her new mission is to make today’s tech issues accessible to users and consumers, so they can consciously manage their digital lives.
Tanya is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a graduate of the University of Oxford, a digital detox expert, and an expert in the field of tech-life balance. She is currently researching for a Masters at the University of Cambridge in Artificial Intelligence (AI) ethics.
Tanya is a regular public speaker and media commentator – helping a global audience forge a healthier, happier relationship with digital devices.
Tanya is an expert commentator on digital detox, a digital wellbeing expert, commentator on screens and children, digital addiction, tech dependency and work-life balance and has been featured on these, and many other, major broadcast platforms and print publications.
THINKING
Tanya writes here on digital wellbeing, digital detox, Big Tech, screen-life balance, cybersafety, AI, social media and mental health, persuasive tech, the attention economy and other topical issues related to the digital world.
Understanding Kids in the Metaverse
The merging of physical and digital for kids in the Metaverse is fraught with potential risks. The digital world was not designed for children.
Algorithms and A Levels
The use of an algorithm to award A Level grades in the UK highlighted problems of algorithmic accountability, transparency and ethics.
TikTok’s deadly challenges
Children are taking part in TikTok’s viral challenges; encouraging them to perform harmful, criminal, and sometimes deadly acts.
The battery life of your phone could affect your loan application
Is how often you drain your phone battery a good indicator of your credit worthiness? Lack of algorithmic transparency in financial services means we may not know.
Teens turning to TikTok and Instagram for news
More teens than ever get their news from social media platform like TikTok and Instagram, rather than from TV or print according to Ofcom.
Technology is changing the way young girls see themselves
Sophisticated AR-based image editing tools are changing how young girls and women view standards of beauty, harming their mental health.
BOOKS
Tanya is the author of three books on our complicated relationship with technology: ‘My Brain Has Too Many Tabs Open’, ‘Off.’ and ‘Stop Staring at Screens’ are all out now.
My Brain Has Too Many Tabs Open
“Highly readable…attainable and realistic ways to reduce technology use and alleviate the burdens it can place on us as individuals and on our relationships.”
OFF: Your Digital Detox for a Better Life
“She presents simple ideas alongside practical suggestions for how to implement them – leaving you inspired and motivated by the end.”
Stop Staring at Screens!
“Perhaps the best compliment I can pay this is that as soon as I started reading this, my 13-year-old son started looking over my shoulder, and in short order said, “I want to read this as soon as you’re done. And I want to do this.” ”
KIND WORDS
Tanya is both a digital detox expert and a digital wellbeing expert and speaks at public events, in workplaces, and at schools and colleges on digital detox, digital wellbeing and tech-life balance.
"Tanya is a joy to work with. She is an expert in the field of tech-life balance, a subject that is relevant for all employees to be reflecting about in today’s fast-paced connected world. Tanya delivered a session for International Women’s Week that resonated across 20 markets and different job roles. As a client, I found Tanya to be flexible, evidence-based, credible – but most importantly – she made us laugh."
Talent & Diversity Senior Manager, Vodafone
"The feedback from Tanya’s digital detox keynote at our client dinner has been excellent. It was definitely an enjoyable evening for all who attended. I was asked a few times – “How did you find Tanya? She was so good, she pitched it at just the right level”. Others were sure it was going to be anti-tech and were pleasantly surprised. She really made the evening memorable."
Managing Director, Aon
"We have had fantastic feedback from Tanya’s ‘Digital Wellbeing’ talk, I think she got a lot of people thinking and her presentation style was amazing – natural and engaging.”
Executive Director, Nomura
"What can I say about Tanya? We couldn’t have asked for a better presenter for a topic like digital detox, which is so relevant to most adults. Tanya is insightful, fun, full of content and makes her points in a very effective and thought-provoking way. She had her audience’s attention throughout with her easy presenting style and left very practical and achievable tips to improve our wellbeing, as well as pushing across some bigger challenges. I would have no hesitation in recommending Tanya for content/presentations on this topic."
-Managing Director, Standard Chartered Bank
"Tanya´s combination of science, research, guidance and advice was clear, accessible, fascinating and entertaining. Feedback from our colleagues has been very positive and many of our teams are now using that advice to improve their work environment and interaction. An hour spent in Tanya´s company was a great investment, and I have no hesitation in recommending her to other companies and organizations.”
Head of Corporate Affairs, Siemens Gamesa
“Tanya spoke at our General Counsel Forum to our senior clients on digital wellbeing. She engaged very effectively with what could potentially have been a cynical or challenging audience and delivered a serious message in a relaxed manner, generating a range of questions and demonstrating her depth of knowledge through Q&As. She was most definitely a hit and I have no hesitation in recommending her.”
Partner, Eversheds Sutherland
“Tanya came to talk to our Global HR Leaders Conference about digital wellbeing. We worked together effectively to tailor some great content which we are now using as the cornerstone of our internal Digital Balance proposition. Tanya’s delivery and knowledge of the subject, and effervescent personality, really helped us gain huge support in our journey to being an organisation with a holistic view on wellbeing.”
Director, Safety and Wellbeing, Vodafone
“Tanya recently spoke at an event for the Royal Society for Public Health on social media and young people’s mental health. She is a great speaker in the digital space, with credibility, long expertise and excellent delivery. She was also really good on a panel answering questions from the audience. I would highly recommend her as a speaker.”
CEO, Royal Society for Public Health
"Tanya gave a superb talk on "digital detoxing" to our virtual partners' conference. The audience is traditionally a sceptical one, to put it mildly. Tanya was excellent. Her delivery was calm, measured and well judged and her content first class. The talk at our virtual networking after the conference was of little else. We have all been doing our best to bear Tanya's advice in mind and to put some of her tips into practice - with, inevitably, varying degrees of success. It can sometimes be a little too glib to give a glowing online recommendation, but I would thoroughly recommend Tanya. Her presentation was thoughtful, practical, well crafted and intelligently made."
Deputy Senior Partner, Russell-Cooke Solicitors
"Tanya is a joy to work with. She is an expert in the field of tech-life balance, a subject that is relevant for all employees to be reflecting about in today’s fast-paced connected world. Tanya delivered a session for International Women’s Week that resonated across 20 markets and different job roles. As a client, I found Tanya to be flexible, evidence-based, credible – but most importantly – she made us laugh."
Talent & Diversity Senior Manager, Vodafone
"The feedback from Tanya’s digital detox keynote at our client dinner has been excellent. It was definitely an enjoyable evening for all who attended. I was asked a few times – “How did you find Tanya? She was so good, she pitched it at just the right level”. Others were sure it was going to be anti-tech and were pleasantly surprised. She really made the evening memorable."
Managing Director, Aon
"We have had fantastic feedback from Tanya’s ‘Digital Wellbeing’ talk, I think she got a lot of people thinking and her presentation style was amazing – natural and engaging.”
Executive Director, Nomura
"What can I say about Tanya? We couldn’t have asked for a better presenter for a topic like digital detox, which is so relevant to most adults. Tanya is insightful, fun, full of content and makes her points in a very effective and thought-provoking way. She had her audience’s attention throughout with her easy presenting style and left very practical and achievable tips to improve our wellbeing, as well as pushing across some bigger challenges. I would have no hesitation in recommending Tanya for content/presentations on this topic."
-Managing Director, Standard Chartered Bank
"Tanya´s combination of science, research, guidance and advice was clear, accessible, fascinating and entertaining. Feedback from our colleagues has been very positive and many of our teams are now using that advice to improve their work environment and interaction. An hour spent in Tanya´s company was a great investment, and I have no hesitation in recommending her to other companies and organizations.”
Head of Corporate Affairs, Siemens Gamesa
“Tanya spoke at our General Counsel Forum to our senior clients on digital wellbeing. She engaged very effectively with what could potentially have been a cynical or challenging audience and delivered a serious message in a relaxed manner, generating a range of questions and demonstrating her depth of knowledge through Q&As. She was most definitely a hit and I have no hesitation in recommending her.”
Partner, Eversheds Sutherland
“Tanya came to talk to our Global HR Leaders Conference about digital wellbeing. We worked together effectively to tailor some great content which we are now using as the cornerstone of our internal Digital Balance proposition. Tanya’s delivery and knowledge of the subject, and effervescent personality, really helped us gain huge support in our journey to being an organisation with a holistic view on wellbeing.”
Director, Safety and Wellbeing, Vodafone
“Tanya recently spoke at an event for the Royal Society for Public Health on social media and young people’s mental health. She is a great speaker in the digital space, with credibility, long expertise and excellent delivery. She was also really good on a panel answering questions from the audience. I would highly recommend her as a speaker.”
CEO, Royal Society for Public Health
"Tanya gave a superb talk on "digital detoxing" to our virtual partners' conference. The audience is traditionally a sceptical one, to put it mildly. Tanya was excellent. Her delivery was calm, measured and well judged and her content first class. The talk at our virtual networking after the conference was of little else. We have all been doing our best to bear Tanya's advice in mind and to put some of her tips into practice - with, inevitably, varying degrees of success. It can sometimes be a little too glib to give a glowing online recommendation, but I would thoroughly recommend Tanya. Her presentation was thoughtful, practical, well crafted and intelligently made."
Deputy Senior Partner, Russell-Cooke Solicitors
PODCAST
‘It’s Complicated’ launched in 2019 and has just finished streaming Series Seven. The digital detox podcast features Tanya chatting to an inspiring group of celebrities, academics and experts to find out how they can help us with our complicated relationship with our smartphones.
S7 Ep 8 The Folding Lady
TikTok sensation The Folding Lady (aka Sophie Liard) joins us for the last episode in Series Seven to talk about her meteoric rise to internet stardom in lockdown with folding tips and tricks. Now with 4 mill followers, she shares how she curates her own social media feed and keeping it real for her followers.
S7 Ep 7 Jack Rhysider
Cybersecurity veteran Jack Rhysider, host of the Darknet Diaries podcast, is telling us everything we need to know to keep ourselves safe online. From the threat from SIM swapping attacks, to how ‘social engineers’ are targeting us to help them commit their crimes. This episode features true crime stories from the dark side of the internet.
S7 Ep 6 Michelle and Joan MacDonald
Mother and daughter Michelle and Joan MacDonald are using tech to inspire, motivate and to change lives – and they’re focused on a part of the population that has been rather ignored and invisible online – women in their 40s and 50s. But that’s not the most incredible thing about this pair. It was daughter Michelle MacDonald’s own ahead- of-the-curve use of technology for coaching and training older women that helped her mother change her life in the first place – resulting in Joan being dubbed, at 76, the ‘Baby Boomer Fitness Influencer’.