Live data from Hacker News

A majority of US teens are taking steps to limit smartphone and social media use

techcrunch.com

71–80 of 113 posts

Re: A majority of US teens are taking steps to limit smartphone and social media use

#71
Similar topic: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17866030

Is today the "Submarine Ad" day for "Kids aren't using social media"? If so, who makes money from us knowing that young people don't use social media? What are they trying to sell to us?

Re: A majority of US teens are taking steps to limit smartphone and social media use

#72

It's important for people to remember that humans are still intelligent creatures that are capable of recognizing, eventually, what's good for them and what isn't. How many of you guys remember the 70s and 80s, when TV and video games were supposed to turn us all into zombies? What happened? We eventually learned how to see these things as the tools that they are. Humans get fascinated by the new and shiny. This fasc…

I agree. It seems we are just constantly moving from one moral panic to the next. It doesn't mean that there are no valid concerns, just that we need to stop and realize that overdramatizing everything isn't actually solving any problems.

I would argue its just another problem caused by our inability as a nation to rise above a childish level of discussion on just about any subject.

Re: A majority of US teens are taking steps to limit smartphone and social media use

#73
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reading ability must be the goal with the criticism though? If it's just listening to a story you might as well watch it, or play it.

Many people listen to audiobooks in situations where they can't watch or play things, like driving or working out.

Exactly. I've gone through 12 audio books this year while I drive to and from work. I can't say I retain as much as I would if I had read them, but I also wouldn't have read any of them due to time constraints.

Re: A majority of US teens are taking steps to limit smartphone and social media use

#74
post #28

It's important for people to remember that humans are still intelligent creatures that are capable of recognizing, eventually, what's good for them and what isn't. How many of you guys remember the 70s and 80s, when TV and video games were supposed to turn us all into zombies? What happened? We eventually learned how to see these things as the tools that they are. Humans get fascinated by the new and shiny. This fasc…

> I'd be flat out surprised if books didn't have their detractors back in the day. They most certainly did have. This reminds me about Socrates' take on books: "for this discovery of yours will create forgetfulness in the learners' souls, because they will not use their memories; they will trust to the external written characters and not remember of themselves. The specific which you have discovered is an aid not to…

Reading is a balance - not reading in childhood is missing out. Reading too much as an adult is running away from life, much like TV and video games. On the other hand, I am reading the Three Body Problem now, and I am learning some history and being forced to remember scientific principles I didn't review since high school. So I guess the lesson is quality and not doing too much of it. I stopped reading sci-fi that didn't win the Nebula (or whatever it's called) award. Just not worth the time.

Re: A majority of US teens are taking steps to limit smartphone and social media use

#75
post #28

It's important for people to remember that humans are still intelligent creatures that are capable of recognizing, eventually, what's good for them and what isn't. How many of you guys remember the 70s and 80s, when TV and video games were supposed to turn us all into zombies? What happened? We eventually learned how to see these things as the tools that they are. Humans get fascinated by the new and shiny. This fasc…

> I'd be flat out surprised if books didn't have their detractors back in the day. They most certainly did have. This reminds me about Socrates' take on books: "for this discovery of yours will create forgetfulness in the learners' souls, because they will not use their memories; they will trust to the external written characters and not remember of themselves. The specific which you have discovered is an aid not to…

And then we have this counter-quote from another great mind:

"I never commit to memory anything that can easily be looked up in a book" - Albert Einstein

Re: A majority of US teens are taking steps to limit smartphone and social media use

#76
Headline: A majority of U.S. teens are taking steps to limit smartphone and social media use

The study: 52% – said they are trying to limit their phone use in various ways.

Addicts will often lie about trying to get clean. "Trying to do" something is also not the same as "doing" something something.

I'm not saying that teens aren't taking concrete steps to reduce smartphone and social media use, and after all, the first step to getting clean is admitting you have a problem, something their parents can't do. I'm just saying it's irresponsible for TechCrunch to jump to this conclusion, and this headline is amounts to clickbait.

Re: A majority of US teens are taking steps to limit smartphone and social media use

#77
post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like reading books, but there's nothing inherently good about getting knowledge through books. Especially a lot of the "entrepreneur" or "productivity" books, where you have 80% padding because nobody wants to buy a 40 page book.

> there's nothing inherently good about getting knowledge through books Strongly disagree. Reading a book requires patience and comfort with delayed gratification. Not only does it require it; I think it also develops it.

I don't think of a book as delayed gratification because books don't take that long. Consider, you click on a link and get a video your first thought is "do I have time for this?"

Watching a MOOK's is a huge commitment where reading a book covering the same material is fast. Video brings great value and can be more relaxing, but reading is generally just faster.

Re: A majority of US teens are taking steps to limit smartphone and social media use

#78

It's important for people to remember that humans are still intelligent creatures that are capable of recognizing, eventually, what's good for them and what isn't. How many of you guys remember the 70s and 80s, when TV and video games were supposed to turn us all into zombies? What happened? We eventually learned how to see these things as the tools that they are. Humans get fascinated by the new and shiny. This fasc…

There's an XKCD for Everything:

https://xkcd.com/1227/

Which has all been said before, what really interests me is what can be done to break this cycle for myself, to keep looking at new things as good and beneficial.

Re: A majority of US teens are taking steps to limit smartphone and social media use

#79
I'm 27 and never signed up for Facebook, something about it did not really appeal to me. Mainly because I hate taking / posting pictures and don't really care for posting status updates to friends. I also like to keep my real life social networks disconnected from each other. I like having "work friends" and "friends from school" and don't care for them to intersect.

Out of the social networks I've tried I liked Twitter the most. I did not post often but it was great to peek into the conversations of interesting people.

I think today's generation is open to social networks but maybe the photo posting / status update nature of today's networks just don't appeal. Maybe a more creative social network where more users are creating content than consuming it would appeal.

Re: A majority of US teens are taking steps to limit smartphone and social media use

#80

It's important for people to remember that humans are still intelligent creatures that are capable of recognizing, eventually, what's good for them and what isn't. How many of you guys remember the 70s and 80s, when TV and video games were supposed to turn us all into zombies? What happened? We eventually learned how to see these things as the tools that they are. Humans get fascinated by the new and shiny. This fasc…

Children watching too much television was a hot topic at the time. I remember reading about a "psychic" working for the government who made predictions for 2015. Curiously grounded in his contemporary time, he predicted a backlash against overuse of television.
Post reply on HN