Podcast Episode Details
Back to Podcast Episodes
Harvard Sociologist: The Technology Crisis No One Is Talking About! How Notification Culture, and Parasocial Bonds Are Creating A Loneliness Epidemic (Caitlin Begg)
Caitlin Begg , Harvard-trained sociologist, founder of Authentic Social, and host of Progression to Analog, is redefining how smartphones and social media shape our attention, communication, and intimacy. From taking three years off TikTok, to researching parasocial relationships, to designing healthier tech habits, this is the conversation every modern creator, founder, and human needs to hear.
Why “phone brain” is the hidden reason behind your short attention span
How notification culture rewires our dopamine and drives gossip culture
Why short-term social media breaks don’t fix your brain - but mornings off do
The loneliness epidemic: hyper-connected, but more isolated than ever
How parasocial relationships with influencers - and even friends - are changing intimacy
Why authenticity online matters (and why most people still fake it)
The dark side of dating apps and how they’re numbing real connection
Why boredom, drifting, and in-person conversations are the real productivity hacks
How AI can free up time for thinking - if you use it the right way
What companies get wrong about workplace communication overload
This isn’t about quitting tech. It’s about reclaiming your attention, deepening real relationships, and designing a more human everyday life.
⸻
This episode is sponsored by:
HSR Newsletter - Get 3 months free using this link
⸻
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
If you like what you hear, rate, review, and subscribe to Hot Smart Rich, the podcast supporting women who own their worth — in business, wealth, and life.
⸻
💌Own your worth — and build the life you want. Subscribe to the Hot Smart Rich newsletter, the no-BS guide to startup life, consumer brands, and becoming your hottest, smartest, richest self, written by Maggie Sellers. Join 250,000+ women building wealth, confidence, and community on their own terms.
⸻
Become an HSR Angel in the Global HSR WhatsApp channel!
⸻
Follow Maggie:
LinkedIn
Amazon Storefront
⸻
Follow Caitlin & Authentic Social: