What is Digital Wellbeing?

When we first started Ctrl Your Scroll, the concept of Digital Wellbeing for most people felt alien. It was something no one had ever really heard of. Much like the term 'Wellbeing' itself 25 years ago, it was often dismissed as a soft concept - very difficult to define and even harder to measure. 

Thankfully, the prioritisation of wellbeing in schools over the past 15 years has been dramatic. Serious research, funding and public policy have ensured it is now receiving the attention it deserves.

And the outcomes speak for themselves - when wellbeing is prioritised we see higher attendance, stronger academic performance, greater classroom engagement and more resilient kids. 

Wellbeing is now widely recognised as a foundation to learning. 

The birth of modern wellbeing science can largely be attributed to American psychologist Martin Seligman who introduced the concept of 'positive psychology' back in the late 20th century. Prior to this, the field primarily focused on dysfunction. People were typically categorised as either mentally ill or cognitively ill. Seligman shifted the focus, seeding concepts such as resilience, agency and life satisfaction. He moved wellbeing from philosophy into something that could be studied, measured and improved. 

Today, it would be difficult to visit a school in Australia without finding a Director of Wellbeing, a wellbeing budget and a whole-school wellbeing program. As a parent, you wouldn’t really send your child to a school without them. 

Digital wellbeing however, is only just beginning to follow this same path. For many people, like my uncle at a family barbecue, a friend of a friend or even sometimes a teacher, the term digital wellbeing still produces blank stares. In those moments, I feel a little like Seligman might have just a few decades ago. 

Although in the past few years research into Digital Wellbeing has accelerated rapidly - the first step in its transition into mainstream lexicon. In 2019, 90 academic papers examined the relationship between technology, social media and wellbeing and by 2023 that number had grown to 257. In 2025, more than 1100 research papers cited the effects of technology or social media on wellbeing. 

So what is digital wellbeing? 

To understand this, we first must recognise the role technology now plays in our lives.

In early 2025, 91% of people reported using social media and the average Australian spent five and a half hours a day on their phone. For Gen Z and Alpha, this average reported screen time was even higher. 

Technology has become ubiquitous. It is embedded in how we work, how we learn, how we communicate and how we spend our free time. Therefore, the challenge for society is no longer how we access technology but rather, how we live with it. 

Because of this, the way young people use technology is increasingly considered one of the most important determinants to how they feel, how they sleep, how they focus, connect or learn. 

Digital wellbeing then, can be understood as the ability to use technology in ways that support our overall health, whilst protecting ourselves from the potentially harmful factors that could undermine it. 

For those who grew up without smartphones or social media, it is often easy to notice how technology has influenced sleep, focus, memory or our ability to think. For those who have grown up with it, that awareness is so much harder to develop. 

Pair this with a developing brain, a susceptibility to new things and apps and platforms that are intentionally designed to keep users coming back. Without education, this challenge is made near impossible. 

This is what separates digital wellbeing from digital literacy and cybersafety. Digital wellbeing recognises that technology is a useful and required part of everyday life. It focuses on helping students develop the awareness, habits, boundaries and agency required to use it with intention. Rather than just teaching them how to avoid harm or effective use. In this way, digital wellbeing must be a part of helping every young person learn how to live, work and learn in the digital world. 

Whilst the education system catches up, there is a growing responsibility for schools and educators to help students understand the digital environment they inhabit.

But for teachers who may not always be on the front line of emerging apps, platforms or digital trends themselves, this can feel again, like an impossible task. 

Although the concept may still occasionally require a short monologue from me to explain what it is, the growing recognition of Digital Wellbeing in school communities is encouraging - and it is only the beginning.

All I need to do now is learn how to say this in one sentence when I am asked what I do for a living…