PLEASE NOTE: Viral Wise is currently only accepting workshop bookings in County Cork. Subscribe for updates and changes.
Workshops
Viral Wise workshops help participants to make sense of the complicated and confusing world of social media algorithms.
Very few, if any, age groups are immune to the effects of these algorithms. That's why Viral Wise workshops are tailored for every stage of life — from primary school children just starting to encounter social media, right through to parents, teachers and adults navigating its effects on a daily basis.
Quick Comparison
Safety and wellbeing are our top priority.
Viral Wise adheres to a strict child safeguarding policy that ensures our workshops for minors are delivered in a safe, responsible and inclusive environment. These policies are informed by official guidelines set out in TUSLA’s Child Safeguarding and Designated Liaison Person training programmes.
Primary School Workshops (age 10-12)
Officially, children under 13 aren't allowed to have social media accounts. However, research shows that 71% of Irish children aged 8–12 already have active accounts, despite the age restrictions. Most children are encountering algorithms long before they’re supposed to and long before they're equipped to.
Our primary school workshops prepare children to enter and navigate the world of social media algorithms safely — before they've signed up, or shortly after. Ideally, we recommend these workshops for 5th and 6th class groups (age 10-12).
What do primary school workshops look like?
The workshops are short (between 40mins and 1hr) and games-focused. The content delivery is fun and engaging and uses relatable real-world examples to simplify the complexity of the topic.
What do primary school workshops cover?
How algorithms work and why the content that keeps us scrolling can sometimes be negative or harmful.
What do primary school workshops avoid?
Age sensitive topics like pornography and self-harm and complex issues like politics and regulation.
Secondary School Workshops (age 12-18)
In 2026, social media plays a central role in teenage life. What teenagers witness and experience online shapes everything, from how they talk and dress, to how they think and feel about themselves and the world around them.
Our secondary school workshops help students to zoom out and interrogate how social media algorithms influence their thoughts, feelings and behaviours. Teenagers understand their own digital lives better than anyone. Therefore, our workshops don’t aim to provide them with a great deal of new information. Rather, the workshops help them to connect the dots and see things from a fresh perspective.
What do secondary school workshops look like?
The workshops are slightly longer than primary school age ones (between 1hr and 1hr 30mins) and rely on a mixture of games and discussion. Like the primary school age workshops, the content delivery is also fun and engaging, but goes deeper into issues like social media’s business model and how engagement works.
What do secondary school workshops cover?
How algorithms work, why the content that keeps us scrolling can sometimes be negative or harmful and how this can shape our thoughts, feelings and behaviours.
What do primary school workshops avoid?
The secondary school age workshops stay away from more complex issues like politics and regulation.
Adult Workshops (age 18+)
Social media doesn’t just affect teenagers lives. Adults also deal with its effects on a daily basis, either directly or indirectly. Regardless of how old we are, we notice its effects—in ourselves, our families, our workplaces and much more. And even if we don’t notice its effects, it doesn’t mean they aren’t real!
What do adult workshops look like?
The workshops are slightly longer (between 1hr 30mins and 2hrs) and discussion focused. While the content is more complex, the delivery is still fun and engaging and doesn’t assume any prior knowledge or expertise.
What do adult workshops cover?
These workshops paint the full picture, exploring social media algorithms as a personal, community, political, economic and cultural issue. They cover everything from social media’s business model, to how algorithms shape politics and culture and how effective regulation and education can be used to make social media safer for everyone.
What do adult workshops avoid?
The adult workshops don’t avoid anything. Any relevant issues or questions that arise in the discussions can be explored as a group—everything from advertising and streaming to dating apps and online shopping.
FAQs
How many people can attend a workshop?
We welcome up to 80 participants for adult workshops (18+) and up to 40 for primary and secondary school workshops (age 10–18). Because the workshops are highly interactive and discussion-led, smaller groups tend to yield the richest experience.
What do you need to host a workshop?
Very little — just a TV or projector for slides. No audio equipment is needed. Seating with desks is helpful, but not essential.
What materials are provided?
Workshop materials are included in the price — exercise materials, worksheets and a curated take-home reading list are provided for every participant.