The Digital Delta Map tells us where to take action to make digital experiences healthier and more beautiful for young people. However, it does not say how to take action. That’s where you come in.

Perhaps most relevant of all, if you’re a young person, think about how the factors we identified play a role in your life:

Think about what it means to have strong, positive relationships with parents, friends, and social groups.

Be clear with yourself if you require resource support and seek it out as best you can — perhaps by tapping into those relationships.

Think about intentionally striking a balance in what you produce and consume online.

Focusing your efforts on the critical areas we identified offers the greatest chance of impacting the wider system. Creating new digital experiences and places in these areas — focusing on relationships, resources, and balanced content — not only supports the wellbeing of young people, but could also transform the wider system and make digital experiences healthier and more beautiful for youth.

Entrepreneurs: Build, support, and grow businesses to address one or more of these issues.

Investors: Pay special attention to investing in, accelerating, or supporting businesses addressing the critical factors we defined, given their transformative potential on the ecosystem.

Policy makers or administration officials: Consider policies, rules, and regulations that support youth access to businesses and initiatives addressing these issues. Also, consider lowering barriers that prevent young people in marginalized communities from finding support for their development and wellbeing.

Educators: Engage with young people about their digital experiences and access to resources to track whether they are experiencing balanced content, and help them find the basic health information they are searching for.

Marketing and Communications professionals: Amplify initiatives, movements, businesses, products, and services that target these three areas.

Healthcare Providers and Payers: Assemble a broad range of products and services to address challenges facing families, caring adults, young people, women, children, and displaced people.

People building the field: Utilize the three areas that emerged as a foundation for progressing the work focused on youth wellbeing and the communities collaborating to create thriving digital places for young people.

Community Participants

In order to build economies that are inclusive for communities of LGBTQIA+, Black, Indigenous, and Latinx youth, we have to research in a way that is accessible, representative, and just. By crowdsourcing our insights from hundreds of perspectives, with an emphasis on the voices of young people, we have democratized our research. Currently, more than 50% of Digital Delta’s insights have been sourced from young people.
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We are so grateful to the non-profits, investors, healthcare organizations, teachers and educators, young people, technologists, parents, innovators, artists, creators, and so many others who contributed to this effort!

Young Leaders

Young people’s voices echo loudly throughout Digital Delta. From the very beginning we asked young people to play a large role in shaping the outcomes of Digital Delta.

Many of the Digital Delta root factors were inspired by a group of 20 Headstream youth advisors. Physically isolated In the middle of a global pandemic, these teens started projects to address the most pressing youth wellbeing needs in their communities. Flip through the photo essay below to glimpse into the lives of these young leaders, and to see how their projects seeded Digital Delta.

How do I get involved?

Community Participants

Young Leaders