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Social Media Is the New Smoking

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Re: Social Media Is the New Smoking

#91

Post by Declanomous »

irrational wrote: post #83
Nightshaxx wrote: post #72

I think that the basic idea of the article is frighteningly true; social media is becoming that thing I use when I feel sick, bored, or just want to escape reality. The problem is smoking feels the same wiether 1 person is doing it or 1 million people do it; social media only really works when everyone you know does it. This makes it even scarier when you realize this will make it exponentially harder for we as a soc…

I get so many invitations to join Linkedin as well as questions about why I'm not on Facebook or other social media platforms that it drives me nuts. Why am I considered strange for not participating? It's like tattoos. Everyone where I live has multiple tattoos and I'm considered a freak because I don't have any. Maybe I just want to be a special butterfly.

I used to be way too involved in Facebook. One day I realized that I was spending way too much time seeking validation there rather than actually taking steps to better myself. I defriended literally everyone that I wasn't invested in, which was about 800 people. The amount of time I freed up was incredible. It didn't hurt my social life at all, since I still keep in contact with everyone I want to keep in contact with.

Social media is largely a narcissistic pursuit, and studies have repeatedly found that higher social media use is correlated positively with narcissistic personality traits. I wouldn't be surprised to learn the same thing about people with tattoos as well. The number of agonizingly boring people I know who are constantly getting tattoos is absurdly high.

That being said, I know a lot of people who have plenty of tattoos and are not narcissistic at all. But it seems like the recent trendiness of tattoos is somewhat correlated with the everyone is special movement.

Re: Social Media Is the New Smoking

#92

Post by baby »

irrational wrote: post #83
Nightshaxx wrote: post #72

I think that the basic idea of the article is frighteningly true; social media is becoming that thing I use when I feel sick, bored, or just want to escape reality. The problem is smoking feels the same wiether 1 person is doing it or 1 million people do it; social media only really works when everyone you know does it. This makes it even scarier when you realize this will make it exponentially harder for we as a soc…

I get so many invitations to join Linkedin as well as questions about why I'm not on Facebook or other social media platforms that it drives me nuts. Why am I considered strange for not participating? It's like tattoos. Everyone where I live has multiple tattoos and I'm considered a freak because I don't have any. Maybe I just want to be a special butterfly.

> It's like tattoos

Come on! It takes literally nothing to create a Facebook account. You can even use a fake mail and name (it might be against the ToS but you still can). The only thing it will take from you is time. (No it won't make your life worst, just use messenger.com and not the main API with the newsfeed so that people can contact you.)

I would compare that to having a phone back then, when it was kind of the only way to contact you. If you don't want friends, then probably no-one will harass you asking if you have a phone number so you're fine.

Re: Social Media Is the New Smoking

#93

Post by ghurtado »

Nightshaxx wrote: post #72

I think that the basic idea of the article is frighteningly true; social media is becoming that thing I use when I feel sick, bored, or just want to escape reality. The problem is smoking feels the same wiether 1 person is doing it or 1 million people do it; social media only really works when everyone you know does it. This makes it even scarier when you realize this will make it exponentially harder for we as a soc…

> The problem is smoking feels the same wiether 1 person is doing it or 1 million people do it

Smoking also requires millions of people doing it to work. You need enough consumers so that the manufacture of cigarettes is viable, and both acquiring the habit and continuing it are highly dependent on the number of smokers that you surround yourself with.

It would be very difficult to be the only smoker in a large enough community of non-smokers.

Re: Social Media Is the New Smoking

#94

Post by [deleted] »

hiq wrote: post #73
xrange wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>what if I'm on duolingo learning Spanish? What if I'm checking my investments or making a trade? ...ah, the Paul Erdos defense: http://amphetamines.com/paul-erdos.html > I spend too much time on my phone, but a lot of it is useful and productive. Looks like we might need to an another item to the list: http://www.magicmgmt.com/magic/abuse-excuse/

I'm all for raising the awareness about how dangerous any addiction can be, but comparing amphetamines and alcohol to using a smartphone is a bit far-fetched. There are many things you can do with a smartphone, many uses are bad, but some are good. I'm in the same case as the post you replied to. I use my smartphone to review flashcards and read books when I commute, and I don't see any better way to use my time.

[deleted]

Re: Social Media Is the New Smoking

#95

Post by Declanomous »

thinbeige wrote: post #4

I remember one vacation which was the first after many years: I was lying at the beach enjoying the view. I was so happy that I could afford some vacation after years of suffering and watching millions of vaction pictures from my friends on Facebook. Avid for revenge, I took a picture of the stunning beach view and wrote in big letters 'MY LIFE IS BETTER THAN YOURS'. At that moment I realized what Facebook is about (…

I took a 3 week road trip recently, and I couldn't find the motivation to post anything about it on social media. I realized on the first day that worrying about social media was taking me out of the moment, and I don't think I opened Facebook until two weeks in to the trip.

I took lots of photos and a bit of video, and I'm really glad I have photos to remember my trip with, especially the photos I have with other people. I haven't found a reason to share them on social media though.

That being said, I did go to a wedding, and I was happy that people shared the photos of that on social media, since the number of people there was way too large to actually make sure everyone in the photos received a copy.

Re: Social Media Is the New Smoking

#96

Post by [deleted] »

thinbeige wrote: post #4

I remember one vacation which was the first after many years: I was lying at the beach enjoying the view. I was so happy that I could afford some vacation after years of suffering and watching millions of vaction pictures from my friends on Facebook. Avid for revenge, I took a picture of the stunning beach view and wrote in big letters 'MY LIFE IS BETTER THAN YOURS'. At that moment I realized what Facebook is about (…

[deleted]

Re: Social Media Is the New Smoking

#97

Post by rosser »

hammock wrote: post #45
Kenji wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you know? Facebook stores what you write into the text box even if you don't send it.

He's getting downvoted but this is (was?) actually true, there was a study about it. Link: http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2013/1...

> In their article, Das and Kramer claim to only send back information to Facebook that indicates whether you self-censored, not what you typed. The Facebook rep I spoke with agreed that the company isn’t collecting the text of self-censored posts.

The study and an FB representative both refute that the content of "self-censored" posts is collected.

Re: Social Media Is the New Smoking

#98

Post by ben_w »

baby wrote: post #92
irrational wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I get so many invitations to join Linkedin as well as questions about why I'm not on Facebook or other social media platforms that it drives me nuts. Why am I considered strange for not participating? It's like tattoos. Everyone where I live has multiple tattoos and I'm considered a freak because I don't have any. Maybe I just want to be a special butterfly.

> It's like tattoos Come on! It takes literally nothing to create a Facebook account. You can even use a fake mail and name (it might be against the ToS but you still can). The only thing it will take from you is time. (No it won't make your life worst, just use messenger.com and not the main API with the newsfeed so that people can contact you.) I would compare that to having a phone back then, when it was kind of t…

Nothing, except your time.

Your time, and the crude attempt to model what you consider to be worthy of your time, so that people with money can waste it in just the right way to make you do what they want you to do — watch an ad, buy a product, vote for a policy.

Re: Social Media Is the New Smoking

#99

Post by brandon272 »

monksy wrote: post #59
voidifremoved wrote: post #24

I broke my phone about a year ago, and it took a few days to sort out a replacement. In that time I went through exactly the same process I did when I quit smoking. I became aware suddenly of all the time, all the gaps, all the moments that I had filled with a quick look at my phone. And once it passed - elation, freedom, seeing the world with open eyes and a clear head. I was sad when my new phone arrived, and looki…

Want to go insane on this. Turn your phone off during work and on dates. It's a huge new level of focus and clarity.

I don't shut my phone off but I do keep it in do-not-disturb mode while I am at work and check it once every hour or two. I have email on my computer so I don't need it for that. Work is stressful enough without my phone constantly squawking at me.

Re: Social Media Is the New Smoking

#100

Post by Mediterraneo10 »

jimbokun wrote: post #87
Mediterraneo10 wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Living peacefully in a society is hard enough when we have to learn to deal with one another. What will happen when we lack those abilities because all we need to do is interact with our technology." Being wrapped up in social media might serve as a way of pacifying society. When unemployment is rising due to automation and policy, give the masses shiny websites they can spend all day on and lots of computer games,…

"Being wrapped up in social media might serve as a way of pacifying society." Looking at the current political climate, the exact opposite is happening.

At least as far as the USA goes, society looks pretty peaceful to me. Sure, there have been a few protests, but nothing especially big or violent. The most dramatic sign of discontent of the masses was expressed through a peaceful presidential election, and all the spleen that most people want to vent, gets vented online in social networks or the comments section of partisan blogs.
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