Boys & Men Online

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In December 2025, the American Institute for Boys and Men launched Boys & Men Online, a new research program dedicated to understanding how emerging digital technologies are reshaping the social, emotional, and financial lives of boys and men. This initiative builds on our mission to produce rigorous, nonpartisan research on the forces affecting male wellbeing—and to inform sensible, effective policy responses.

 

Understanding the digital environment shaping boys and men

Boys and men today spend unprecedented time online, often in digital environments engineered for high stimulation, frictionless transactions, and rapid compulsion. The program studies the effects of high-engagement technologies including:

  • Sports betting
  • Pornography
  • Gaming
  • AI companions
  • Cryptocurrency and day-trading

These products have become deeply embedded in the daily lives of young men. Yet evidence on their real-world impacts—positive and negative—remains fragmented. Boys & Men Online will help fill this gap by mapping the evidence, advancing causal research, and examining emerging policy responses.

 

Program leadership and fellows

Boys & Men Online is led by David Sasaki, a seasoned expert in technology policy, governance, and gender. David previously served as a program officer in Gender Equity and Governance at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and has led grantmaking on technology policy, digital media, and civic technology at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Omidyar Network, and Open Society Foundations. Earlier in his career, he helped launch Global Voices, a pioneering digital media rights initiative incubated at the Berkman Klein Center at Harvard University.

Isaac Rose-Berman will continue as a gambling research and policy fellow. Isaac will conduct further policy research on the effects of the rapid expansion of legalized sports betting, including on prediction markets. He is also developing gambling literacy resources for teachers and parents.

We are also pleased to welcome Bailey Way, a PhD student at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), as a new fellow. Bailey is conducting a comprehensive research and policy scan on pornography consumption in the United States, bridging evidence across psychology, economics, relationship studies, and public health. Her work will inform future convenings, research priorities, and potential policy pathways.

 

Follow our work at MenOnline.org

We encourage you to subscribe to our new Substack to stay informed about the latest developments in how online technologies are influencing the lives of boys and men—and what solutions may help. Readers can expect:

  • New research and analysis
  • Policy analysis
  • Commentary and insights
  • Interviews with scholars and practitioners