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Heavy social media use associated with lower mental health in adolescents

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Re: Heavy social media use associated with lower mental health in adolescents

#61

Post by kreeben »

ChrisRR wrote: post #8

Social media damages everyone's mental health it seems. For some reason it seems to bring out the worst in so many people, and people think it's now acceptable to post online the awful thoughts that they would've kept to themselves

>> Social media damages everyone's mental health

It may seem that way but don't believe it's 100% accurate.

Mental pressure built up within yourself, whatever is their cause, get somewhat released after a good cry. Afterwards you feel a little bit refreshed. You feel a little bit less sad. The anger within you is not as prominent.

Lashing out on people, starting flame wars in your favorite online forum, screaming, yelling and DEMANDING to be heard, shouldn't that also release some of the tensions we all carry around with us from time to time? Wouldn't that leave us a little less motivated to go out IRL and actually hurt someone physically, a little less motivated to sit down and furiously start on the next evil manifesto?

My own brain, though, is not built for social media. I need to see the nervous twitch in your eye, your conniving smile or the loving wink of your eye in order to fully understand you and I think oftentimes when you misunderstand me it's because you didn't see my eye twitching or my mouth smiling. But I've heard other people being absolutely in love with it. It can't be all bad.

Re: Heavy social media use associated with lower mental health in adolescents

#62

Post by [deleted] »

titzer wrote: post #24

Social media (and the attention economy) are worse for young brains than drugs. If you came up with a substance that caused young people by the millions to become totally addicted, cost them multiple hours per day, pushed them into depression and suicide, and contributed to inactivity, obesity, loss of attention span, and overall ennui, it would be banned almost immediately. Heck, if you proposed a tracking system th…

[deleted]

Re: Heavy social media use associated with lower mental health in adolescents

#63

Post by ForHackernews »

haolez wrote: post #44
titzer wrote: post #24

Social media (and the attention economy) are worse for young brains than drugs. If you came up with a substance that caused young people by the millions to become totally addicted, cost them multiple hours per day, pushed them into depression and suicide, and contributed to inactivity, obesity, loss of attention span, and overall ennui, it would be banned almost immediately. Heck, if you proposed a tracking system th…

Add to that recent games like FIFA or NBA that have casino-like mechanics with real money.

Watch out, they'll outlaw Robinhood

Re: Heavy social media use associated with lower mental health in adolescents

#64

Post by itronitron »

bjt2n3904 wrote: post #15

There are entire subreddits dedicated to mocking this point, like /r/PhonesAreBad, and /r/InsaneParents. I doubt half the screenshots they post of text message conversations are even real -- but the point gets across. Phones are the most wonderful thing that keep us connected to each other, and only crude luddites living in the dark ages who don't understand the benefit they provide would take them away from a kid do…

I recall reading a book review on Amazon recently in which the reviewer referenced CDC fatality information to show that middle-aged adults were more likely to die in stupid ways than teenagers despite the popular pseudo-science wisdom that 'the teenage brain' is more prone to risk-taking because it hasn't 'fully developed.'

Re: Heavy social media use associated with lower mental health in adolescents

#65

Post by simias »

titzer wrote: post #24

Social media (and the attention economy) are worse for young brains than drugs. If you came up with a substance that caused young people by the millions to become totally addicted, cost them multiple hours per day, pushed them into depression and suicide, and contributed to inactivity, obesity, loss of attention span, and overall ennui, it would be banned almost immediately. Heck, if you proposed a tracking system th…

I've always been a bit extreme on this but I more than ever believe that it's insane that we consider that leaving teenagers with unsupervised internet access is reasonable.

Maybe I'm prude or naive but I remember vividly when I first saw a pornographic movie at like around 17. It really shook me at the time. I wasn't traumatized or anything but it made a strong impact on me.

These days I expect that most teens experience this at like 12yo on their smartphones. Last week I was linked a reddit video of some guy dying in absolutely gruesome circumstance due to an industrial accident. And then there's the constant influx of disinformation. Did you know that Hydroxychloroquine cures HIV? I saw a Youtube video claiming just that yesterday.

Leaving a kid on the internet is like living them on a shaddy part of town for hours at a time. I'm old enough that I only had internet at home when I turned 18, in hindsight I feel like I dodged a bullet.

Re: Heavy social media use associated with lower mental health in adolescents

#66

Post by Xelbair »

daenz wrote: post #35
ChrisRR wrote: post #8

Social media damages everyone's mental health it seems. For some reason it seems to bring out the worst in so many people, and people think it's now acceptable to post online the awful thoughts that they would've kept to themselves

The communities are too big. We're not meant to socialize frequently with people with whom there are rarely repercussions for how we treat them.

The size is just the symptom.

Those services match you, with other who share similar views/preferences - putting you inside a bubble.

Before social media radical views\moronic opinions etc. wouldn't spread so far- because others would point out flaws in your reasoning or outright laugh at it.

Now? you have permanent access to enabling group - group who share views, and support each other - entrenching it.

Flatearthers would be ridiculed anywhere - but not they have a group that supports them.

Not to mention that there are literally no consequences of holding an objectively wrong opinion(back to flatearthers) in online discourse.

Don't get me wrong, those people with those view always existed - they just get exposed, via the worst invention of 2000s/2010s, to each other and that let them be more vocal about it.

Re: Heavy social media use associated with lower mental health in adolescents

#67

Post by grumple »

mumblemumble wrote: post #55
bnralt wrote: post #18

I'm starting to wonder if mass media in general is bad for our mental health, and if we'd be better off unplugging as much as we can from everything - social media, TV, radio, Hacker News, etc. and spending more time with our community. I suppose the problem is, most communities are completely addicted to this stuff, so we're left in a situation where it's hard for most people to unplug for any long period of time wi…

This is my experience. I disconnected from social media, and my social life immediately died. Friends only communicate with each other through Facebook, so I'm really only staying in regular contact with my very closest friends anymore. Most of it I don't miss, because social media has also reduced the quality of communication to the level of gossip, but what I do miss out on is any sort of invitations to social gath…

After leaving facebook a few years ago, I noticed at first that it was difficult to find out about social events. And I felt more disconnected.

After a while, though, it just sort of filtered the events down to those I cared more about. My good friends still reach out directly and vice versa. I think it took a while for that to start happening though.

I've lost touch with many acquaintances, but if I'm being honest it's probably better that I don't expend energy on those people. I'm certainly not isolated from society, though. I just engage on my own terms.

Re: Heavy social media use associated with lower mental health in adolescents

#68

Post by Verdex »

ChrisRR wrote: post #8

Social media damages everyone's mental health it seems. For some reason it seems to bring out the worst in so many people, and people think it's now acceptable to post online the awful thoughts that they would've kept to themselves

I was about to say the same thing. At least social media gives me quite a bit of mental heart burn.

Interestingly enough, HN and reddit have both been really useful for me. Both are much more focused AND the people there don't gain anything by attacking me personally, only by attacking my ideas. This has been really good because it's allowed me to get used to communicating ideas in a way that people will understand them and getting used to people being upset at me.

Social media where people know who I am in real life though, has been terrible. Like, the worst was a few different relatives who were getting "offending" at me because it gave them social capital with other relatives. I had nothing to do with anything, they just wanted to look good in front of someone else by trying to make me look bad. And I suppose that's a good lesson to learn, but it's not something I want to have to deal with from arbitrary many people.

Re: Heavy social media use associated with lower mental health in adolescents

#69

Post by marcus_holmes »

ChrisRR wrote: post #8

Social media damages everyone's mental health it seems. For some reason it seems to bring out the worst in so many people, and people think it's now acceptable to post online the awful thoughts that they would've kept to themselves

Uninstalled all social media apps a couple months ago. Noticed an immediate improvement in my mental health. Haven't regretted it, don't miss it. I still log in occasionally via the web, just to see if there's anything I should know about with my friends.

Still can't kick HN ;)

Re: Heavy social media use associated with lower mental health in adolescents

#70

Post by shawnz »

josho wrote: post #43
thick wrote: post #10

"Social Media" seems to be a scapegoat for the underlying causes: children are in particular affected by this because they haven't had years/decades to build up mental disorders yet where they justify it to themselves that it's "okay", and the unfairness in the world through the lens of social media, taking the emotional toll head on. Children are very sensitive to their status in society, but we forget this because…

Social media is engineered to be addictive and creates media bubbles that prey on kids insecurities. Social media takes every challenge that kids face and amplifies it. My anecdotal experience is two daughters whose normal teenage challenges have been made worse through social media. Social media could have been a utopian technology bubbling up unique experiences to cultivate hobbies and interests in the young. Inste…

> Social media takes every challenge that kids face and amplifies it.

I don't see why any kind of urbanization or improved communication/infrastructural technology wouldn't have this effect. The more people you can reach, the more people you have to compete with.

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