.jpg)
EMPOWERING STRONG
HUMAN CONNECTIONS
You're HUMAN, you have all the APPS you need.
How do you feel?
If you have been impacted by our digitally demanding world, let's chat about how we can help!
No App For Life is dedicated to providing tangible solutions to
repair the fallout of digital socialization, restore the value of authentic human interactions, and prevent the harmful policies that continue to go unchecked. It’s not enough to just be aware of the stats, it’s time to address the issues that negatively shaped a population.
"Generation Z (adults ages 18-22) and Millennials (adults ages 23-37) are lonelier and claim to be in worse health than older generations." (Cigna, 2018).
"More than 1 in 3 high school students had experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness – a 40% increase in depression since 2009... In 2019, 1 in 6 youth reported making a suicide plan in the past year, a 44% increase since 2009." (CDC, 2019)
The Complex Paradox – Quite the Social Dilema
Social Media Extremes – how do we compete with the promise of fame and fortune, a tool of escapism, instant gratification, human curiosity, love and desire, sex, pornography, endless shopping, knowing anything about anyone at anytime! When Tic Tok performers can earn more than 27 million dollars, purchased “likes” can lead to celebrity – who wants to hear that this “thing” we’re doing is not so good for us??!! We get it! That’s why we’re dedicated to solutions.
​
"When the truth is known, it can no longer be ignored, only denied."
The digital shift in the way we communicate and interact is considered a global social science experiment. Teens and young adults were thrown into this new world without any idea how these changes might shape them. The results are in. We have a population who is lonely, stressed, dealing with high rates of anxiety, depression, self-esteem issues, and a decline in interpersonal communication skills to build trusting, intimate relationships critically needed for health and well-being.
For far too long – the dark side of social media has been hidden. A decade before Facebook’s whistle blower Frances Haugen came forward with the credibility of an “insider” – the undeniable evidence presented by scholars – researchers – psychologists – and educators had been available all along.
​
A Comprehensive Approach
​
We can help! At No App For Life, we believe these issues require an all hands on deck approach.
-
Awareness - We create a variety of media to amplify the issues, give "voice" to those brave enough to share their stories and generate an understanding that we're not alone.
-
Education - Our tools, full curriculum and project-based learning focuses on empowering students to use our digital tools intentionally, build personal communication skills to have emotional needs met and strengthen relationships. Many of these strategies can be woven into current curriculum.
-
Community - We offer opportunities to gather for focused conversations, create events and campaigns, film screenings and workshops to support you in your goals.
When you listen, you learn. Since 2006, Media and Communication Professor Joni Siani has developed tools and resources to empower students. Siani has listened and learned from close to 2,000 students asking, "how do you feel?" From a compassionate and empathetic lens, she has been creating course work to meet the moment. With a combination of Media/Digital literacy, Social/Emotional learning and a Cognitive Behavioral approach, we have found a comprehensive strategy that students appreciate, calling their experience, eye opening and life-changing.
​
LISTEN – LOOK – LEARN and join us in our advocacy work and educational tools to empower our society for a happier and healthier world. Let's Chat!
​
OUR SERVICES
CONSULTATION:
We offer a FREE consultation
MEDIA PRODUCTION:
Get Inspired - Watch and Listen
MEDIA PRODUCTION
No App For Life creates dynamic media to tell stories, use as teaching tools, spread awareness and inform.
Celling Your Soul – this multi-award winning documentary, was one of the first documentaries to address the impact of digital socialization on a population. Streaming now and available for academic use at CellingYourSoul.com.
.png)
.png)
.png)
TESTIMONIALS
Film Companion Guide & Workbook
Try this! Celling Your Soul starts the conversation! The FREE film guide provides questions, thought starters and a step by step workbook. We know you might not be able to do a full "digital cleanse" in today's digitally demanding world. But, you can decide to learn more about yourself. The goal is to take a few days to compare and contrast the difference between more authentic connections to digital interactions. The No App For Life Challenge allows you to improve your interpersonal skills and communicate in a more fulfilling way. Take a look and try it together, with friends - family or a class project!
The No App For Life Podcast
Listen today as host Joni Siani takes on the touching, emotional and tough conversations around our digital lives. The NAFL Podcast shares the honest and often underserved voices of those who have experienced the most harmful elements of digital socialization. Teens and young adults get real about tremendous pressure to curate their online presence, their need for intimacy and deeper relationships. You'll hear from parents who face the unthinkable and feel
compelled to share their stories to prevent other tragedies. Heros who fight for accountability from Big Tech companies that focus on profit before people. Contact us directly to get involved with our show topics, guests or sponsorship. Your donations help to support this project.
Celling Your Soul: No App For Life Book
Pick up a copy and start a conversation! We discovered that reading off a phone never sparks the question, "How's the book?" Joni Siani encourages you to hold a paper book in your hands, read in public, and see if that might spark a conversation. Use this to think, ponder, write your own thoughts and opinions in the margins, journal or scribble in the white space. Make it personal. How did the digital socialization process shape you? What about the social skills and mental health of the next generation? Celling Your Soul: No App For Life evaluates the paradox of our love/hate relationship with our digital devices, provides empowering strategies for more balanced and authentic human connectivity within the digital landscape.
No App For Life YouTube Channel
Hear directly from students in our webinars, access a variety of teaching tools for school course work or as conversation starters. Check out events and lectures along with clips from Celling Your Soul and animations to support curriculum or use with film screening events.
​
CONSULTATION & SUPPORT
About Joni Siani
Joni Siani, Media and Communications scholar, has been working as a broadcast journalist, dynamic lecturer, author, filmmaker, radio personality and higher education instructor throughout Boston and New York. Her highly acclaimed work on the shaping effects of digital socialization is presented in the multi-award winning documentary Celling Your Soul, including the honor as a selected film for the American Psychological Association conference in 2018.
​
Siani is an Assistant Professor at Manhattanville College in the greater New York City area. Siani was an early predictor on the shaping
effects of digital communication behavior on individuals and society.
​
In 2006, a year before Facebook became available to the general public, Siani was a first-hand witness to the potential harm that the shift to digital connection may pose for an entire generation. As college students were the first Facebook users, with no model for best practices, Siani explains, “I was a constant sounding board for the real-life digital drama that my students were traumatized by as they explained ‘the train-wreck’ they were trying to handle.”
As social media rose to a phenomenon and billion dollar industry, the cautionary stories of teens and young adults being affected by the digital socialization experience, were simply drowned out.
Students were revealing that they “didn’t ask for this,” “feel trapped,” and “judged,” and looking for help.
During the decade that Facebook was hiding their research, Siani was incorporating the research of some of the world’s leading authorities on the intersection between the human experience and the digital demands, creating a course of study, activities and curriculum. Siani explains, "Celling Your Soul was the cautionary tale. We now need to focus on repairing the damage. From the extreme comparison culture that is directly linked to self-esteem issues, to the anxiety and depression often connected to digital drama and harsh judgement, it's time for action."
​
​
Contact us today!
Let us know how we can support you. We have been honored to "take action," with a team of professionals who are credited with making change happen!
PARTNERS IN ACTION
SCREEN TIME ACTION NETWORK
The Screen Time Action Network is a global coalition working to promote a healthy childhood. Director Jean Rogers is a powerful collaborative force for practitioners, educators, social workers, and parents regarding healthy child development and screen time. The Action Network is a project of Fairplay.
MEDIA LITERACY NOW
Media Literacy Now is leading the grassroots movement to create a public education system that ensures all students learn the 21st century literacy skills they need for health, well-being, economic participation, and citizenship. MLN has been instrumental in elevating Media Literacy education in K-12 schools as a public policy priority.
Filmakers Collaborative
Laura Azevedo is the Executive Director at Filmmakers Collaborative. Her nurturing and enthusiastic support for the creative media makers has been enormously valuable. Her support and guidance with our "little film idea," was the beginning of our entire journey!
Bullfrog Films
Bullfrog Films has become the leading US publisher of independently-produced documentaries on environmental and related social justice issues. Celling Your Soul is proud to be part of the Bullfrog community.
CONTACT US
DONATIONS
From day one, our goal has always been to support all organizations dedicated to the mission of Media/Digital Literacy, Health & Wellness, and Communication Studies, regardless of funds. We create media to inform, educate and empower. Your donation allows us to offer paid internships, hire editors and researchers and technical services. We have partnered with Filmmakers Collaborative, a tax-exempt organization that has been providing low cost fiscal sponsorship to independent media makers since it was founded in 1986. Their mission, to sponsor and support the independent media community and bring people together for learning and networking. All donations support the work of No App For Life, our media production and creative media educational tools. Please click the donate button below, thank you!