The COVID-19 pandemic has brought to the fore a new cadre of valued workers. And it’s not the corporate CEO or senior business leader but the delivery workers that are helping cafes and restaurants stay open (in some form) during lockdown. Cristina Inversi, Aude Cefaliello and Tony Dundon of the Work and Equalities Institute (WEI) […]
Social media and mental health: Can we trust what we’re being told?
The COVID-19 pandemic, and the subsequent lockdown initiated in much of the world, has highlighted the crucial role of social media in social connectivity and news dissemination. In this blog, from our publication On Digital Trust, Dr Margarita Panayiotou explores whether social media is as bad for our mental health as we are led to […]
The age of data: the death of privacy or its solution?
With increasing details of our lives being stored in digital space, how do we safeguard our data-selves? In this blog, republished from our On Digital Trust publication, Professor Mark Elliot outlines the dilemma between the value of data and the need to protect users’ privacy, and offers a solution to policymakers. Data is no longer […]
Risk in a digital age: why solutions lie in people, not just technology
As the digital and real worlds become ever-more entwined, do we really understand how people and technology interact? In this blog, republished from our On Digital Trust publication, Prof Gerard Hodgkinson explains why both person and machine should be considered when introducing and safeguarding digital infrastructure. Historically, new technologies fail to meet expectations because human […]
How modelling can become a debate-support tool, not just a decision-support tool
As many politicians around the world inform the public of their responses to the coronavirus outbreak, they frequently refer to the science on which their decisions are based. In this blog, Professor Graham Haughton, Dr Nuno Pinto and Professor Iain White explore the changing nature of how modelling tools are forming political and public debate. […]
Privacy pitfalls in combatting coronavirus digitally: Lessons from South Korea
As the UK embarks on rolling out new digital and mobile capacities in the fight against COVID-19, other countries may serve as bellwethers for potential issues. In this blog, Dr Michael Prentice, Research Fellow in Digital Trust and Security, discusses privacy issues that arose in South Korea’s technology-driven response to the COVID-19 outbreak and how […]
Profiting from pandemics: COVID-19, changing routines and cyber crimes
The COVID-19 crisis is driving changes in the routines of institutions and individuals, as businesses, educational institutions and other organisations recommend or require employees to engage in social distancing in a collective attempt to minimise the spread of the virus. As well as having global socioeconomic effects, these changes in routine create opportunities for crimes. […]
Don’t panic! Keep calm and help young people to benefit from social media
In our final blog for Children’s Mental Health Week, Professor Neil Humphrey and Dr Margarita Panayiotou discuss mental health and social media. A causal link between young people’s use of digital technologies and their subsequent experience of mental health difficulties has not been proven. Social media can have both positive and negative effects on mental […]
Online counselling for young people: Increasing access and reducing loneliness
For over 15 years, staff based in the Manchester Institute of Education have been engaged in research exploring the development of online counselling services for young people. Here, Dr Terry Hanley and Professor Pamela Qualter discuss their research findings and make recommendations for the UK Government’s strategy for tackling loneliness. Our research findings act as […]
Breaking the silence: The importance of student involvement in school mental health
Hardly a day passes when adolescent mental health is not in the news. Dr Cathy Atkinson, Senior Lecturer in Education and Child Psychology at the Manchester Institute of Education, and Lucy Wilkinson, sixth-form student at Altrincham Grammar School for Girls, discuss their research into student-led mental health initiatives at AGGS, and suggest that this approach […]