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Researchers, lawmakers want Facebook's mental health research

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

#131

Post by wcunning »

azemetre wrote: post #52

It's very odd, I use to use Instagram and it would make me depressed. IDK how to explain, I don't even have any friends on there I follow. Just something about seeing everyone at their best 100% of the time, doing amazing things 100% of the time, never facing adversity 100% of the time. I know it's not realistic but it still gets to your head. I uninstalled it from my phone I feel better about myself after a few week…

I have a very different experience with Instagram in particular. I have a very tightly controlled machinist and woodworker account that has taught me innumerable little things, connected me with people who have helped on all kinds of problems and only given me positive reinforcement. There are other communities I've dipped a toe in that are far more toxic, but I have made the choice to stop engaging in those communities as a result.

On the other end of the spectrum, Facebook used to be a cesspool for me, since I didn't like the amount of politics and high school classmates I didn't like in high school in my feed. Then, I unfollowed everyone that posted any politics of any kind, unfriended people I intended to never see again, and now my feed is only a handful of groups that are incredibly friendly and helpful communities around overly obsessive coffee culture. Otherwise, I now use Marketplace pretty heavily since it seems to have largely replaced Craigslist in my area with better targeting that actually regularly gets my interests right. Now that I have made the choices to use the tool well, it's really really helpful. You have to take some responsibility for the bad experience you have on these platforms -- they only push you content you engage with, so you can choose to stop seeing that crap if you want to.

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

#133

Post by nlh »

azemetre wrote: post #52

It's very odd, I use to use Instagram and it would make me depressed. IDK how to explain, I don't even have any friends on there I follow. Just something about seeing everyone at their best 100% of the time, doing amazing things 100% of the time, never facing adversity 100% of the time. I know it's not realistic but it still gets to your head. I uninstalled it from my phone I feel better about myself after a few week…

My experience and $0.02:

If you use Instagram the way "normal" people do, it's a path to sadness. Selfies, one-upmanship, parties, perfect cakes, perfect gardens, exotic vacations, etc. All the badness. It's just human nature and it's what the platform has become. Bleh.

If, however, you go into Instagram and aggressively curate your feed to be hyper-specific to a (visual) niche you're interested in, it can be really, really great.

I have 3 Instagram accounts - my "main" one (in which I follow friends), and that's become a hellscape of all of the above. I just don't use it anymore.

My other 2 are hyper-specific: One follows pets (parrots, specifically), the other is all about coin collecting (@numismattack ahem shameless plug). Absolutely zero variation from those themes. And you know what? It's a really fun way to immerse yourself in those respective worlds! All interesting niche content, all the time. I suggest you (and others) give that a try.

Ps - no matter what your main feed is, stay far far away from the "Explore" tab. That is brain poison. It's like pure algorithmic dopamine generation and it's the root of all evil on that platform.

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

#134

Post by shard »

wearywanderer wrote: post #70
jfoutz wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

my great uncle owned an armored car when I was a child. He lived a few states away so I only saw pictures. British Ferret. Apparently it still had the guns, but they were spiked, so they would never fire again. Also, he tried to explain how you shift, but I never quite understood it. the clutch was a lever, with some sort of handle to spin the flywheel up or down to the next gear.

Most privately owned tanks have demilitarized guns, though I think not all. But with the right paperwork in America, it should be legal to put working artillery in your legally owned tank. There is a fair bit of working artillery privately owned in America already, but you'd have to find a gun that is compatible with installation on your tank. Of course this is not a cheap hobby, and if you want explosive shells you'…

Here is a place in Texas where you can rent a tank, drive it, and shoot it: https://www.drivetanks.com/

Here are the prices for the Sherman tank:

SHERMAN TANK

$1,850.00 – Drive the tank

$950.00 – Ride the tank, driven by a Cadre

$2,800.00 – Drive & Shoot the tanks 76mm main gun (1 round)

Here is a guy who rented a tank and shot it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqC2kJNdJjE

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

#135

Post by SrslyJosh »

whereis wrote: post #122

Back in 1997, I briefly hung around a criminal who ran a crew known to the feds. I'd drive around with him on non-crime stuff related to his "day job" (front). I've been dealing with various forms of stalking, hacking, harassment and targeting since, almost certainly tied back in large part to that brief association in 1997. Last spring (2020), this man who I haven't seen or communicated with since the late 1990's, w…

GDPR data request?

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

#136

Post by ShroudedNight »

mumblemumble wrote: post #82
azemetre wrote: post #52

It's very odd, I use to use Instagram and it would make me depressed. IDK how to explain, I don't even have any friends on there I follow. Just something about seeing everyone at their best 100% of the time, doing amazing things 100% of the time, never facing adversity 100% of the time. I know it's not realistic but it still gets to your head. I uninstalled it from my phone I feel better about myself after a few week…

It's admittedly an extreme case, but I've been seeing Instagram fairly directly harm a friend's mental health. She is repeatedly seeing people on Instagram doing elaborate things - decoration, cooking, parenting, etc., and it's giving her unrealistic expectations about what standards she should be upholding in everything she does, be it cooking or crafting or interior décor or parenting or whatever. She isn't just tr…

> ...it's giving her unrealistic expectations about what standards she should be upholding in everything she does...

It sounds like Instagram is essentially the generalization of pornography.

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

#137

Post by teclordphrack2 »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #65
azemetre wrote: post #52

It's very odd, I use to use Instagram and it would make me depressed. IDK how to explain, I don't even have any friends on there I follow. Just something about seeing everyone at their best 100% of the time, doing amazing things 100% of the time, never facing adversity 100% of the time. I know it's not realistic but it still gets to your head. I uninstalled it from my phone I feel better about myself after a few week…

> IDK how to explain, I don't even have any friends on there I follow. Social media is best used for keeping in touch with friends and family. If you're just browsing popular photos from people you don't know, it's basically an interactive and targeted version of watching TV. We all grew up understanding that endless TV consumption is an unhealthy activity that we should minimize, but it has taken a while for the sam…

> Social media is best used for keeping in touch with friends and family.

None fake friends and family. Got a handful of fam that are so fake with what they post. Act like they do it all and now one helps them. Turns out they are narcissistic users.

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

#138

Post by minikites »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #118
azemetre wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Being addicted to anything is a massive trigger for depression, especially when it displaces productive activities and replaces them with sedentary consumption. If you can't use something without becoming addicted, it's best to not use it at all. I know it sounds trite but I feel like social media today (or maybe all forms of media honestly) makes the barrier to ill-will extremely easy. If you were a young adult (a…

> How can I as an individual compete with billion dollar companies that literally hire neuroscientists/psychologists to make something as addictive as possible? If someone can't moderate their own consumption of something despite their best efforts, abstinence works. Similar story with alcohol: Plenty of people have no problem moderating their consumption, but a small percentage of people really struggle with limitin…

>If someone can't moderate their own consumption of something despite their best efforts, abstinence works.

It doesn't work for sex ed and I don't see why it would work for this.

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

#139

Post by mdorazio »

Kranar wrote: post #128
zepto wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Generally, admitting that your product causes a medical problem makes it easy for people to sue you over it. You’re right that they could be sued even if they don’t admit it, but then they would have a defense which would be far weaker if they had already admitted it.

Okay, let's say I don't believe you and I have made a good faith effort to look into this subject and have found no evidence that anyone has ever been sued for causing depression, do you have any evidence or way to substantiate your claim and demonstrate to me that you are correct? I am aware of emotional distress lawsuits, but what's being claimed here is quite different. Do I have no choice but to take you at your…

I would say your effort wasn't very high then. Keywords to search for are "Mental anguish" and "Emotional distress". "Depression" is not a thing you can really sue for, but mental harm associated with it definitely is.

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

#140

Post by billwear »

Facebook and Instagram are based in shame, the feeling that you are somehow unworthy or less worthy. this is where advertisers need you to be to successfully sell you their products. imnsho, shame is the root of a lot of anxiety, and a gateway to depression.
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