Social Without the Media
Growing Up Online with Lorena, Tara and Rosie. What does it feel like to grow up in a world where childhood, friendship, self-image and attention are all shaped by technology?
In this episode of We Are The People, Philip speaks with Lorena, Tara and Rosie, three young women reflecting honestly on their childhoods and the role that phones, tablets, online games, social media, short-form content and AI have played in their lives.
This is not a conversation about blaming young people. It is not about blaming parents. And it is not a claim that technology is only bad.
As Lorena, Tara and Rosie explain, technology helped them connect with friends, discover interests, find community, learn new things and stay close to people during moments like COVID.
But this conversation also explores the cost.
The cost of always being available.
The cost of comparing yourself to people and lives that may not even be real.
The cost of growing up with algorithms, beauty standards, cyberbullying, online risk, short-form content and endless scrolling before you have had the chance to fully understand yourself.
Across the episode, Lorena, Tara and Rosie speak with humour, vulnerability and remarkable self-awareness about what it meant to grow up online. They discuss early experiences with tablets and phones, the impact of TikTok and Instagram, the pressure of being seen online but not replying, the way social media can affect anxiety and body image, and the strange exhaustion that can come from spending hours doing nothing but scrolling.
They also reflect on the positive side of technology: creativity, connection, learning, access to communities and the ability to stay close to people even when life keeps you apart.
This is a thoughtful and timely conversation about growing up online, but it is also a hopeful one. Lorena, Tara and Rosie are not speaking as experts or trying to represent every young person. They are simply sharing what they have lived through, what they have noticed, and how they are trying to build a healthier relationship with technology.
For parents, teachers, young people, and anyone who has ever picked up their phone for five minutes and looked up two hours later, this episode offers an honest look at what technology is doing to our attention, our friendships, our confidence and our sense of connection.
In This Episode with Lorena, Tara and Rosie
We talk about:
- Growing up outdoors, imaginative and connected before screens became central
- The first tablets, phones and online games that changed childhood habits
- How social media affected friendship, confidence and self-image
- The pressure of being constantly available online
- TikTok, Instagram, short-form content and the feeling of losing time
- COVID, online connection and the difficulty of going back offline
- Anxiety, brain fog, guilt and the physical impact of endless scrolling
- Cyberbullying, online safety and the risks young people face
- Beauty standards, comparison culture and AI-generated images
- The difference between real-world friendships and online connection
- Why “screen time” is about more than the number of hours
- What parents need to understand about technology and childhood
- The positive side of social media: creativity, learning and community
- How Lorena, Tara and Rosie are setting boundaries and taking back control
Why This Conversation Matters
Technology is now woven into childhood in a way that previous generations could not have imagined. For many young people, phones and social media are not separate from real life; they are part of friendship, identity, school, confidence, anxiety, belonging and self-expression.
That makes the conversation more complicated than simply saying technology is good or bad.
Lorena, Tara and Rosie bring honesty and nuance to that complexity. They recognise the value of online connection, but they also speak clearly about the emotional, physical and social cost of growing up with constant access to content, comparison and contact.
Their reflections offer something important for anyone trying to understand young people today: the issue is not just screen time. It is what the screen is doing to attention, self-worth, relationships and peace of mind.
A Note on the Conversation
This episode includes discussion of social media addiction, anxiety, body image, cyberbullying, online harm, AI-generated images and the pressures young people can face online.
The conversation is honest and reflective, but it is handled with care and without sensationalism.
About Lorena, Tara and Rosie
Lorena, Tara and Rosie are three young women who joined We Are The People to reflect on their childhoods and the impact that technology, social media and online life have had on the way they grew up.
In this episode, they speak openly about growing up with phones, tablets, online games, Instagram, TikTok and short-form content, and how those experiences shaped their friendships, attention, self-image, anxiety and sense of connection.
Their conversation is honest, thoughtful and often deeply relatable. They are not speaking as experts or trying to represent every young person’s experience. Instead, they share what they have lived through themselves: the good, the difficult, the confusing and the lessons they are still carrying with them.
Across the episode, Lorena, Tara and Rosie bring humour, vulnerability and self-awareness to a conversation that many parents, teachers, young people and adults will recognise. They explore both sides of technology — the creativity, community and connection it can offer, as well as the pressure, comparison, distraction and emotional cost that can come with growing up online.
Together, their voices offer a grounded and human insight into what it means to come of age in a world where childhood and technology are now almost impossible to separate.
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