Digital Communities: Understanding Your Child's Online Social World

Explore how online friendships, gaming, streaming, and digital communities can provide meaningful connection and belonging for youth. Parents will learn practical ways to evaluate online relationships for reciprocity, support, boundaries, and safety, while approaching their child's digital social world with curiosity rather than fear or dismissal.

Participants will be able to:

• Identify different forms of online social connection, including friendship, community participation, and parasocial relationships.
• Evaluate online relationships using indicators of reciprocity, support, boundaries, and safety.
• Describe how online spaces can support belonging and social connection, including for neurodivergent youth.
• Apply strategies for discussing online relationships and safety with youth using curiosity, communication, and developmentally appropriate involvement.

Anthony Magnia, AMFT, APCC (he/they), is a certified Geek Therapist who provides identity-affirming, neurodiversity-affirming, and trauma-informed therapy to teens, adults, couples, and families. His work integrates Geek Therapy with evidence-based and culturally responsive approaches to help clients explore identity, relationships, emotional well-being, and the ways their interests and communities can support growth.

Supervised by Julian Heart, LMFT

Contact us at (510) 981-5350 or email [email protected].