Digital influence(r)s, recognition, and wellbeing in the digital world: Working with young people

Digital influence(r)s, recognition, and wellbeing in the digital world is a practical CPD resource for educators, youth workers, safeguarding professionals, community practitioners, and others who work with young people. Drawing on research conducted across North East England, the book explores how digital influencers, social media platforms, and online engagement can shape young people's behaviours, interactions and sense of (well)being.

Grounded in Axel Honneth’s theory of recognition, the resource introduces an innovative framework for understanding digital wellbeing through three interconnected dimensions: care, rights, and social esteem. Rather than focusing solely on online safety and risk management, it encourages participants to critically examine how recognition as a proxy for social validation operates in digital environments and affects personal and collective sense of (well)being.

The book provides three adaptable workshop programmes covering:

• Recognition and digital influencers
• Rights and digital masculinities
• Social esteem and counter-narratives

Each workshop includes lesson plans, facilitator notes, discussion prompts, practical activities, reflection exercises, and activity handouts designed to support critical dialogue, ethical digital engagement, and informed decision-making.