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Researchers, lawmakers want Facebook's mental health research

npr.org

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Re: Researchers, lawmakers want Facebook's mental health research

#11

Post by guerrilla »

xenihn wrote: post #7
julienb_sea wrote: post #2

This article discusses correlational evidence. The basis for causation is speculative at best, and there is a long list of cofounding factors. The side effects of attempting to bar social media usage by teens might further amplify the problem, driving them away from carefully moderated platforms.

Moderation is actually the problem. The internet was a better place for everyone when it was just webrings, usenet, and goatse.

I think we only feel and think this way because that wss prior to a wider and more gradual Eternal September. I don't think we can go back at this point.

Re: Researchers, lawmakers want Facebook's mental health research

#15

Post by bitexploder »

julienb_sea wrote: post #9
bseidensticker wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you calling Facebook "carefully moderated"?

I certainly am calling Facebook and other mainstream social media more carefully moderated than off-the-beaten-path social networks which glorify anorexia, self-harm and other disorders.

Guess it depends on what you want moderated. I don’t consider Facebook very well moderated. They moderate what helps them sell ads and leave the rest of their sewer alone.

Re: Researchers, lawmakers want Facebook's mental health research

#16

Post by yumraj »

thoughtstheseus wrote: post #8

Why isn’t the mental health of people using its platform a priority for Facebook?

Because its revenues are dependent on users being addicted to its service.

Your question is akin to asking why are crack dealers not worried about the health of their customers.

Re: Researchers, lawmakers want Facebook's mental health research

#17

Post by munk-a »

julienb_sea wrote: post #9
bseidensticker wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you calling Facebook "carefully moderated"?

I certainly am calling Facebook and other mainstream social media more carefully moderated than off-the-beaten-path social networks which glorify anorexia, self-harm and other disorders.

These are very serious issues and I don't in any way mean to minimize them but, honestly, nazis and anti-vaxxers are legion on facebook. These groups both pose serious societal threats especially in the middle of a pandemic.

Re: Researchers, lawmakers want Facebook's mental health research

#18

Post by oh_sigh »

ipnon wrote: post #12

Note that Facebook does not have the choice to agree. To do so would be to open Facebook to unimaginable legal liability. So Facebook's opinion in the matter is moot. There are practically no inputs to this function that will change its behavior.

How so? Isn't there a link to types of alcohol use and depression(and cancer, and diminished mental capacity, and early death)? It's not like alcohol companies are being sued out of existence.

Realistically I think that it just so happens that the people who would work at facebook are the people who naturally don't believe that facebook is a force of badness in the world because their worldview already aligned with facebook before they joined.

Re: Researchers, lawmakers want Facebook's mental health research

#19

Post by munk-a »

guerrilla wrote: post #11
xenihn wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Moderation is actually the problem. The internet was a better place for everyone when it was just webrings, usenet, and goatse.

I think we only feel and think this way because that wss prior to a wider and more gradual Eternal September. I don't think we can go back at this point.

I'd actually attribute that to the technical inaccessibility of the internet meaning that, while not everyone on the internet at that point was smart, they were almost all curious about new things. The user base of the early internet was basically self-selected to be quite full of skeptics.

Re: Researchers, lawmakers want Facebook's mental health research

#20

Post by version_five »

galonk wrote: post #4

Facebook is the new tobacco industry.

I'd say more generally that the online advertising (or attention, if you like) industry has massive negative externalities that they are trying to downplay and not take responsibility for.
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