NoSo November is a social movement led by its founder, Maddie Freeman, for which teenagers are encouraged to abstain from social media for the month of November. Freeman started the movement to address research that suggests an association between suicide and social media use. ¹

Background

NoSo November is an organization that promotes abstaining from social media usage during the month of November to address mental health concerns associated with social media usage. Madeline Freeman founded NoSo November in 2020 as a response to 12 of her classmates in high school having committed suicide and discovering research that such a correlation between social media usage and suicide among teenage girls. ^{2 3}

NoSo November’s website refers users to the Center for Humane Technology’s webpage on so-called “harms” of social media, which was created in partnership with Omidyar Network, J.W. Coach Foundation, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and Common Sense. ⁴ Among its criticisms, the webpage claims prolonged technology use can damage a child’s brain development, claims a lack of content oversight on social media platforms prohibit people from reacting to global issues, and it claims social media is bad for people’s mental health. ⁵

Services

NoSo November offers a free promotional video encouraging people to participate in abstinence from social media, explaining potential harms with social media use and includes the Director of the Social Dilemma, Jeff Orlowski, who speaks in support of the group. ⁶ It also provides support on its website for those potentially dealing with challenges associated with abstaining from social media, including recommendations for alternative activities such as journaling or yoga. ^{7 8}

NoSo November advertises that it offers partnerships with schools where they can use its free resources or hire NoSo November founder Madeline Freeman to speak at the school in addition to the free resources. Its free resources include a list of alternative activities to social media as well as its promotional video coupled with discussion questions and instructions on how to administer the materials. NoSo November does not charge for the promotional materials, discussion questions, or other resources, but it does charge an unspecified hourly speaking fee to hire Freeman to speak at schools as well as travel costs associated with doing so. ^{9 10}

Leadership

Maddie Freeman founded NoSo November in October 2020. From October 2019 to March 2021, she operated a business called “Stash-It-Scrunchie,” which sold scrunchies with hidden pockets. On her LinkedIn profile, Freeman lists NoSo November as a self-employment as well as “suicide prevention work” with Littleton Public Schools. ¹¹

Fiscal Sponsor

In 2021, LookUp.Live (LookUp), a nonprofit organization that fiscally sponsored youth advocacy organizations through its annual grant awards, began fiscally sponsoring NoSo November. ^{12 13} LookUp states that NoSo November aligns with its mission of youth organizations it seeks to fund and that its funding is for organizations in need of funding prior to obtaining 501(c)(3) nonprofit tax status. ¹⁴

1. Burch, Kelly. “She Lost 12 Friends to Suicide. Now She’s Challenging People to Give up Social Media for a Month.” Insider, November 4, 2021. https://www.insider.com/woman-lost-12-friends-to-suicide-created-noso-november-2021-11.
2. “Maddie Freeman.” LinkedIn. Accessed October 16, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/maddie-freeman-1a5438196.
3. Burch, Kelly. “She Lost 12 Friends to Suicide. Now She’s Challenging People to Give up Social Media for a Month.” Insider, November 4, 2021. https://www.insider.com/woman-lost-12-friends-to-suicide-created-noso-november-2021-11.
4. “About.” NoSo November. Accessed October 16, 2023. https://www.nosonovember.org/about.
5. “Ledger of Harms.” Ledger of Harms. Accessed October 16, 2023. https://ledger.humanetech.com/.
6. “Noso November Draft.” YouTube, October 4, 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzfupN1raKU.
7. ^[1] “Participant Resources.” NoSo November. Accessed October 16, 2023. https://www.nosonovember.org/our-mission-draft.
8. “Join the Challenge.” NoSo November. Accessed October 16, 2023. https://www.nosonovember.org/join.
9. “How to Bring Noso to Your School.” NoSo November. Accessed October 16, 2023. https://www.nosonovember.org/for-schools.
10. “NoSo November Brief for Schools.” Squarespace. Accessed October 16, 2023. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/6087573bd0533b07b121a13b/t/64f7fedc36f8767ff7baf4d0/1693974237052/Noso+November+School+Brief.pdf.
11. “Maddie Freeman.” LinkedIn. Accessed October 16, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/maddie-freeman-1a5438196.
12. “Approach.” LookUp. Accessed October 16, 2023. https://lookup.live/approach.
13. “Lookup Sponsorship.” NoSo November. Accessed October 16, 2023. https://www.nosonovember.org/lookup-sponsorship.
14. “Noso November.” LookUp. Accessed October 16, 2023. https://lookup.live/noso.