Promoting a digital ethics of care: A digital cognitive interruption to facilitate UK adolescents’ empathy in online spaces

In debating who takes responsibility for adolescent’s online activity, expectations are that a multi-systemic approach is needed. In this paper, the voices of 11–18-year-olds, teachers, and mental health practitioners in focus group conversations were analysed using thematic analysis. Results indicated that young people demonstrated empathy in situ during data collection. However, when reporting on conversations in digital spaces, they complained of a lack of empathy from others, noting that bullying, and trolling were problematic. We propose the novel use of an intentional digital cognitive interruption to support empathic posting. The intention is for this to act as a catalyst for young users to consider their responses before posting by providing a momentary disruption to the fast flow of online interaction. We invite further conversation about supporting adolescents’ digital empathy in online spaces.