Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The relationship between social media use and well-being

hbr.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

81–90 of 132 posts

Re: The relationship between social media use and well-being

#81

Post by eldavido »

esemor wrote: post #3

I was reluctant when I removed my fb account about six months ago but it felt like it was what I needed as it intruded on what I really wanted to focus my time and energy on. A few weeks in I was amazed at how I did not miss the social network at all and surprised that the contacts that previously only contactef me on fb now wrote email and text messages.

This. facebook is like the cheetos of content.

It tastes great but if you stop buying it, you'll feel so much better, and wonder why you thought you "needed" it all along. I've been off (deactivated) for 4-5 years, maybe longer, and I rarely miss it. I have a pretty active in-person social life, though.

Re: The relationship between social media use and well-being

#82

Post by castle-bravo »

facebook's business is advertising, and the more time people spend on facebook, the more valuable facebook's ad space is. If depressed people spend more time on facebook instead of getting out, then it's in facebook's interest to have their product make people depressed. If angry people spend more time writing rants on facebook, then it's in facebook's interest to make people angry. I may be confusing causation with correlation, but I am willing to bet that the reason facebook's product has repeatedly been shown to cause harm is because the harm is good for facebook, not by accident of design.

The article linked below describes some of the anti-features that make slack addictive. I have no reason to believe that slack and facebook are not aware of the addictive power of their products and do not cynically designin their products to enhance their addictive potential. https://medium.com/@satyavh/the-real-reason-slack

Re: The relationship between social media use and well-being

#83

Post by castle-bravo »

rconti wrote: post #55
j_s wrote: post #41

Time to put together a study on the relationship between HN use and well-being!

I actually find communities like this far more depressing than your average social network. I can go on the vacation my friend is on, but I cannot acquire the expertise of thousands of other brilliant professionals in every niche I see here.

All you can do is learn. In the immortal words of Rush: "Those who wish to be must put aside the alienation, get on with the fascination, the real relation, the underlying theme."

Re: The relationship between social media use and well-being

#84

Post by enraged_camel »

rconti wrote: post #29
davehtaylor wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>They only show you the best slices of individual lives, all day, every day. When compared to your life, it makes it look like you're doing nothing with your life. Exactly. You end up judging your interior by others' exterior. They show you a highly edited version of their life, made to impress everyone else. You're doing nothing but constantly chasing a phantom life you can never have, because no one else really has…

So many people complain about this, and I just don't get it. Maybe if I'm not part of the solution, I'm part of the problem? When I'm stuck at my desk and I see someone posting vacation pictures from Spain, I say "man, that looks nice, I wish I was there!" And that's it. Maybe it makes me think about where I want to go next, but it doesn't send me into some existential crisis. I wonder if there are personality types…

The entire idea is that the effect is subconscious. Sure, seeing one person post vacation pictures from Spain won't affect you then and there, but over time as everyone posts awesome pictures you will inevitably feel that something must be lacking in or wrong with your life.

Re: The relationship between social media use and well-being

#85

Post by nathanasmith »

Swizec wrote: post #45
lsc wrote: post #40

I feel the 'social media is bad for you' thing, but for different reasons. I mean, I don't really understand the 'feeling inadequate because of my cousin's baby pictures' thing. I mean, I am happy for them, but that isn't the life I want, so I don't feel bad that I don't have it. Alternately, I could be less jealous than most people, but let's run with the more realistic first reason. For me, the problem with social…

> lots of people are there who lack a background in early internet culture or academic culture I think this hits it. Many (most?) people just aren't used to having people disagree with them. Let alone voice those disagreements and be expected to defend their beliefs and explain why they think they're right. For many people the way they think is correct, just is correct. It's not something that needs defending or even…

>I think this hits it. Many (most?) people just aren't used to having people disagree with them. Let alone voice those disagreements and be expected to defend their beliefs and explain why they think they're right.

And some people like myself just don't feel like sitting around arguing all day.

Re: The relationship between social media use and well-being

#86

Post by braveo »

platz wrote: post #72
Swizec wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

TIL! I've never heard of emotivism before. And I don't think that's what I was pointing towards. My comment is about the idea that people aren't used to having their beliefs investigated or challenged. No matter what the basis is for their existence. It's more a lack in their environment than in themselves I think. You can't get used to defending your beliefs until you're exposed to people and ideas that challenge th…

sure, though I think emotivism is pertinent here, for example > "I think you're wrong" is to think you're being attacked This is exactly what the emotivist thinks because challenging an idea means challenging a preference which is directly challenging the moral character of the individual. There is no ability to discuss things in a detached way for them; this seems to check out anecdotally. Is that "not fine?" - I ce…

Having an opinion or idea doesn't make it correct or worthy of attention by other people.

If I come across someone who really thinks that way, they get dismissed and I lose 100% of any shred of respect I may have had for that person.

I don't care if that's considered closed minded, the mindset is wrong, fullstop, and it's obvious to anyone with a modicum of thinking skills.

The idea you've described here can be true sometimes depending on the subject matter, but it is not nearly true all the time, and if someone is unable to recognize that, then I cannot trust anything they say, and it's not worth the mental or emotional energy to engage them.

Re: The relationship between social media use and well-being

#87

Post by platz »

braveo wrote: post #86
platz wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

sure, though I think emotivism is pertinent here, for example > "I think you're wrong" is to think you're being attacked This is exactly what the emotivist thinks because challenging an idea means challenging a preference which is directly challenging the moral character of the individual. There is no ability to discuss things in a detached way for them; this seems to check out anecdotally. Is that "not fine?" - I ce…

Having an opinion or idea doesn't make it correct or worthy of attention by other people. If I come across someone who really thinks that way, they get dismissed and I lose 100% of any shred of respect I may have had for that person. I don't care if that's considered closed minded, the mindset is wrong, fullstop, and it's obvious to anyone with a modicum of thinking skills. The idea you've described here can be true…

> Having an opinion or idea doesn't make it correct or worthy of attention by other people.

Very well, but I don't believe that is what I described or claimed.

Re: The relationship between social media use and well-being

#88

Post by braveo »

platz wrote: post #87
braveo wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having an opinion or idea doesn't make it correct or worthy of attention by other people. If I come across someone who really thinks that way, they get dismissed and I lose 100% of any shred of respect I may have had for that person. I don't care if that's considered closed minded, the mindset is wrong, fullstop, and it's obvious to anyone with a modicum of thinking skills. The idea you've described here can be true…

> Having an opinion or idea doesn't make it correct or worthy of attention by other people. Very well, but I don't believe that is what I described or claimed.

I didn't mean to imply that you did, my point is that someone being being "an emotivist" isn't understandable, and it doesnt' mean the people around them should be inclusive of such an outlook on life.

Re: The relationship between social media use and well-being

#89

Post by platz »

braveo wrote: post #88
platz wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Having an opinion or idea doesn't make it correct or worthy of attention by other people. Very well, but I don't believe that is what I described or claimed.

I didn't mean to imply that you did, my point is that someone being being "an emotivist" isn't understandable, and it doesnt' mean the people around them should be inclusive of such an outlook on life.

Ok, I didn't say that such people should be accepted, description is not prescription.

Re: The relationship between social media use and well-being

#90

Post by sanderjd »

seanwilson wrote: post #80
ovulator wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In real life when I engage with one friend about a topic his friend who I don't know doesn't step in and start attacking me.

Really? Pretty sure this is common in group conversations if you talk about divisive topics like politics, nuclear power, GM food, vaccinations etc. I guess with Facebook the group is a lot bigger though.

Yeah I think the point is that in real life it's easy to have a quiet conversation with your friend without a bunch of other people chiming in.
Post reply on HN