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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

#331

Post by jtr1 »

sibeliuss wrote: post #313
jjice wrote: post #278

I was addicted to Twitter in high school. I spent hours on it at night, getting no sleep. I spent so much time and mental bandwidth thinking of funny things to say or memes to make to get more likes. I was addicted to the likes and keeping up with everyone I knew. First semester of college, I stopped using Twitter. My sleep got better, I had more free time, and I was noticeably happier and freer. I no longer spent ti…

Getting off of Facebook and Twitter was the best thing I ever did - I can't believe how much more mental space I have now that I'm no longer stuck in conversation loops with strangers. Interestingly, it was a mushroom trip that did it. The mushroom spirit (or whatever you want to call it) lucidly explained how I was wasting my life on those websites. The next day I quit, and its been years now, though I def felt with…

Glad you're getting some space from them. I'm doing the same myself. Not sure how much I blame parents, though. These sites are designed like slot machines, which means there are a number of professionals and executives out there who consciously sought to addict people to their platforms. Shame on them.

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

#332

Post by enkid »

LocalH wrote: post #228
enkid wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lots of things have been around for 1000's of years. Rape, murder, clothes, but that doesn't mean they are a good thing.

Being around for thousands of years has zero bearing on whether something is good or bad. It can speak to relative safety. In all the thousands of years, there has yet to be a single death that can be attributed directly to cannabis (and I don't count "marijuana-related visits" to hospitals where regardless of which ailment a person has, if they test positive for cannabis it becomes a "marijuana-related visit", nor d…

Good point!

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

#333

Post by gabereiser »

AlwaysRock wrote: post #155
Zelphyr wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I deleted my social media almost ten years ago and I feel like I have a stronger social network now than I had before. The key thing I think I may have done differently is that I got involved in things that provided opportunities to be engaged with people. For example; I joined my local Masonic lodge and started doing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Between those two things alone I find I have regular enough interactions with a…

I can echo this. I'm social media lite. I have very few social media platforms and that ones I have are limited or automated so I don't interact with them often. I had to be deliberate about telling people I'm not going to see their post about xyz so they would have to text or call me if they want to invite me. Sure I probably miss some events but the ones I go to I know I'm wanted at. Socializing passively at a gym…

I’d like to echo the socializing part. Granted it’s hard right now because of covid restrictions, but if you’ve deleted your social media you have to get yourself out there and socialize the analog way. Don’t be shy to say hi to people. Ask them what they are doing. Socialize at your regular routine stops. Reach out to that person you only kinda know from that thing one time and see if they want to come to something you’re doing.

You’ll find people are very willing to discuss things if you initiate. This is how we did it before social media and it’s by far the more pleasant way. Just don’t be a jerk, you’ll be fine.

MeetUp is a great resource too. I’ve even asked randoms on NextDoor if they want to meet up at the pub. There are ways to be social without the big social media platforms.

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

#334

Post by medhir »

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…

I definitely struggled with something similar when I first deleted Facebook. It's definitely harder in terms of "discoverability" to connect with people you enjoy spending time with.

But over time that difficulty lessened. I found the connections I made outside of Facebook were longer lasting and more meaningful, because there was actually some onus on me to try and stay engaged. And people do respond well when you demonstrate you care to engage in a deeper fashion. It feels like relationship building / maintenance in today's age is something of a lost art, because it's become so easy to superficially connect without putting in a bunch of work.

The big social platforms make you want to believe there's a monopoly on societal participation. Pushing back against that energy is such a powerful thing, even if it's somewhat isolating in the short-term.

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

#335

Post by anthk »

jjice wrote: post #278

I was addicted to Twitter in high school. I spent hours on it at night, getting no sleep. I spent so much time and mental bandwidth thinking of funny things to say or memes to make to get more likes. I was addicted to the likes and keeping up with everyone I knew. First semester of college, I stopped using Twitter. My sleep got better, I had more free time, and I was noticeably happier and freer. I no longer spent ti…

I use Twitter via Nitter.net and just a few Unix people.

As if doesn't have infinite scroll, is less addicting.

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

#336

Post by anthk »

MetaWhirledPeas wrote: post #280
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…

The problem with totally unplugging is that you effectively put your head in the sand. You're less informed about what is going on around you. Sure you can read books, but you're increasing your risk of exposure to bias or falsehoods when you limit your selection like that. We may be getting pummeled with "fake news" right now, but at least we have the ability to discuss the matter and see more than one side. The ear…

>. You're less informed about what is going on around you.

https://lite.cnn.io

https://text.npr.org

https://efe.com

I use them thru Lynx and a framebuffer image viewer.

Everything else is bullshit.

I'm probably 90% better informed than half of the mooks being idiotized at the social media.

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

#337

Post by anthk »

MetaWhirledPeas wrote: post #323
tester756 wrote: post #317

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You're less informed about what is going on around you. majority of things from the news has no impact on me at all

Let's take one big example: climate change. Without the news, things would be different. It might never have achieved the level of funding and attention it has so far if it weren't for general public awareness.

He, you just couldn't do worse, right?

I have a Gopher site for that, from a really insteresting guy:

gopher.club/1/users/mmeta4/

No ads, no likes, no bullshit. Just pure text, some images and PDF's readable even under a Linux framebuffer.

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

#338

Post by watwut »

handedness wrote: post #328
nineplay wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The irony was that my conviction that I looked ghastly only made it worse. I permed my hair and teased my bangs and piled on the makeup and held my breath while I pulled on jeans that were too small for me. If I'd really seen myself when I looked in the mirror I would have been better off. I didn't, I saw someone who was supposed to look like Cindy Crawford and was failing miserably.

As difficult as that era was, I worry that the present dynamic is somehow even worse than the decades-long ill of young women comparing themselves to airbrushed supermodels: young women comparing themselves to an endless stream of social media personalities who work tirelessly and deliberately to maintain a facade of contrived believability. And to whom anyone who isn't keeping up the same level of image consciousnes…

People who mock people in real life for not looking this is that way do a way more impact.

It is not just about what ideals you see. It is also and maybe more about what is said about those who fail that standard. How they are treated and how you are treated.

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

#339

Post by esja »

jjice wrote: post #278

I was addicted to Twitter in high school. I spent hours on it at night, getting no sleep. I spent so much time and mental bandwidth thinking of funny things to say or memes to make to get more likes. I was addicted to the likes and keeping up with everyone I knew. First semester of college, I stopped using Twitter. My sleep got better, I had more free time, and I was noticeably happier and freer. I no longer spent ti…

HN has the same problem with upvotes. It would be healthier not to display karma scores at all, even privately. Use them for ranking etc but hide the numbers completely.

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

#340

Post by 908B64B197 »

vulcan01 wrote: post #126
AndrewKemendo wrote: post #52

People should really read the research [1] and not this article as the article doesn't actually capture the scope and real impact of the research. The executive summary highlights: * Personal wellbeing drops, on average, as children move from primary into secondary school, and continues to drop as children move through secondary school. * We find a graded relationship between family income and all three outcomes thro…

As a high school guy, I have to wonder if > Engaging in physical activity was found to be more important for boys’ mental and emotional health is because (personal anecdata warning!) guys tend to prefer friends who are physically fit. This is just something I've noticed by observing my school; the stronger guys tend to have a larger social circle. However, this causation could be flawed, maybe physically active peopl…

I wonder if it isn't a proxy for something else and we're measuring the wrong thing.
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