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Facebook knows Instagram is toxic for teen girls, company documents show

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Re: Facebook knows Instagram is toxic for teen girls, company documents show

#521

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> As bad as that was, in the past you could move to another of the 380,000 towns on this planet. 1. That assumes you have the money to move, can land in a new city and find housing, and then find a job. Pre-internet this was absolutely nontrivial. 2. It's not 380,000 towns on this planet, in the 80's/90's it was just a handful of cities that were more evolved, like San Francisco or P Town. There's a reason those citi…

I just want to point out that people moved without any money back in the day. Now we play it safe. We save money. We find an apartment, a job and then we move. We live comfortably now and we don't want to lose that when moving. You can even see it today with people from certain parts of the world. They leave with nothing else than maybe a 20 dollar phone hoping they'll be able to call their family once they get somew…

But queer people don't always have families, especially back in the day. So many were kicked out, ostracized, cut off.

RuPaul is correct when she says queer people create their own family. Even today.

Re: Facebook knows Instagram is toxic for teen girls, company documents show

#522
post #508

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry, I thought the sarcasm would be obvious. I’m not irritated by my straight colleagues talking about their families. You, however, seem to have a problem with your gay colleagues talking about theirs. As a side note, quite a lot of straight people are irritated by the fact that straight sex can mean more than just erotic pleasure (hence the popularity of contraception).

In most workplaces, sexual eroticism of any kind is an inappropriate topic. I don't have any gay colleagues. To your last point, I would also point out the popularity of "abortion", and say that degeneracy takes many forms.

You seem to find gay relationships more erotic then most actual gay people do :)

Re: Facebook knows Instagram is toxic for teen girls, company documents show

#523

It used to be that if you were queer - in any sense of the word - and lived in one of the countless small, conservative, traditional communities in this country, you were shit out of luck. Now, thanks to the internet, there exists inclusive and positive communities for people of every type of background and experience. This simply did not exist for most people just a few decades ago, but now it's accessible to almost…

> It used to be that if you were queer - in any sense of the word - and lived in one of the countless small, conservative, traditional communities in this country, you were shit out of luck.

Doesn't stop at the country's border: Social Media has been a gift to the whole world.

And it's not just queers either: just look at the 2011 Arab Spring. Suddenly, people could just get news from their peers, see live videos of what was really happening and not just the curated content allowed by the local warlord. They could see how westerners lived and wonder: "Why do I have to bribe everyone around me?" "Why can they just go to school and not me?" "Why are woman able to have jobs and walk down the streets without a man?" and "Why are they allowed multiple sources of information?"

There's a wonder some countries are trying hard to restrict internet access, and western social media. The great Firewall, Cuban Intranet, Egypt cutting out the countries network during protests...

Re: Facebook knows Instagram is toxic for teen girls, company documents show

#524

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just want to point out that people moved without any money back in the day. Now we play it safe. We save money. We find an apartment, a job and then we move. We live comfortably now and we don't want to lose that when moving. You can even see it today with people from certain parts of the world. They leave with nothing else than maybe a 20 dollar phone hoping they'll be able to call their family once they get somew…

But queer people don't always have families, especially back in the day. So many were kicked out, ostracized, cut off. RuPaul is correct when she says queer people create their own family. Even today.

I was purely talking about moving to another place.

Re: Facebook knows Instagram is toxic for teen girls, company documents show

#525

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Humiliation, bullying, shame, abuse.... these things have been inflicted upon millions of young people generation after generation just because they didn't fit a very narrow mold. But you want me to shed a tear for who exactly? People who wrote hateful things and chose to share them with the public? Those are the very people dishing out the humiliation and shame and abuse. I for one am very happy that those behaviors…

But you want me to shed a tear for who exactly? For the same people the parent comment described. Ugh, does everyone think the people to whom I was referring were the bigots ?

I'll be honest: on first read, I did feel like there was some submarine equivalency going on in that post. (I don't think that having read your follow-ups.)

Re: Facebook knows Instagram is toxic for teen girls, company documents show

#526

It used to be that if you were queer - in any sense of the word - and lived in one of the countless small, conservative, traditional communities in this country, you were shit out of luck. Now, thanks to the internet, there exists inclusive and positive communities for people of every type of background and experience. This simply did not exist for most people just a few decades ago, but now it's accessible to almost…

> It used to be that if you were queer - in any sense of the word - and lived in one of the countless small, conservative, traditional communities in this country, you were shit out of luck. Doesn't stop at the country's border: Social Media has been a gift to the whole world. And it's not just queers either: just look at the 2011 Arab Spring. Suddenly, people could just get news from their peers, see live videos of…

And then what happened with the Arab Spring?

Re: Facebook knows Instagram is toxic for teen girls, company documents show

#527

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But you want me to shed a tear for who exactly? For the same people the parent comment described. Ugh, does everyone think the people to whom I was referring were the bigots ?

I'll be honest: on first read, I did feel like there was some submarine equivalency going on in that post. (I don't think that having read your follow-ups.)

My bad. I reread my comment, and I easily can see what it sounded like.

Re: Facebook knows Instagram is toxic for teen girls, company documents show

#528
post #501

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People you care about will regularly experience this, if it hasn't happened already. You'll be shocked and depressed when you discover who is doling out the shame and abuse, you will not recognize who you thought they were, and you will discover that if you stand up for them, you will also become a target. I find it bewildering and worrisome, the way people think that this little monster won't grow and will stay on t…

I find it confusing that people fail to to see the obvious switcharoo. It used to be unacceptable to be queer, non-white, non-Christian, non-male and it was OK to mock people for those traits. Now, it's all backwards, and it's OK to be queer, non-white, non-Christian etc. What is no longer OK is mocking people for these traits. So, now the people who are getting the pointy end of the stick are the people who used to…

> The anti-cancel-culture people make it sound like they are being horribly oppressed. But for what? The color of their skin?

At work last week, our "diversity and equity" team announced that our company is "obviously" not diverse enough.

This is a company in the US with employees across North America and Europe, with some employees in South America, Australia, India, and even Africa, and not just South Africa, either.

The company does have more employees in Europe and North America than elsewhere, and those employees share one thing in common: skin color. They do not share a nationality, a language, a cuisine, or a mindset.

The only possible interpretation of the D&I&E officer is that there is too much white skin at our company.

Is that horrible oppression? No, but it is racist and prejudiced AF and I would 100% lose my job of I said a single word.

Re: Facebook knows Instagram is toxic for teen girls, company documents show

#529

It used to be that if you were queer - in any sense of the word - and lived in one of the countless small, conservative, traditional communities in this country, you were shit out of luck. Now, thanks to the internet, there exists inclusive and positive communities for people of every type of background and experience. This simply did not exist for most people just a few decades ago, but now it's accessible to almost…

Those communities existed before social media on bbses, then forums, websites. Social media has drawn in more people but connected your real life identity and that will still cause you problems at a local level. If you are a young teen not out two profiles are required. But these services want your real name...

Re: Facebook knows Instagram is toxic for teen girls, company documents show

#530

Is it Facebook / Instagram's fault or us as a culture? As a culture we adore beauty, wealth, power...Facebook seems to be just a platform where our natural desires can have a play. Facebook hasn't created this impossible beauty ideal, it was created long long ago by Hollywood and the fashion industry. Facebook just makes it super easy for people to become obsessed with something by "connecting" with it. It used to be…

Social media is neither good nor bad. It is a tool for communication. Most users benefit from social media and you can't condemn them for not questioning other aspects. Nevertheless, it is essential to question the intentions and procedures of the company behind it. I believe that external observers and institutions are required for this to happen and to spread awareness of things running afoul. However, like so many…

> Most users benefit from social media

What evidence supports this? The story is about evidence that this is in fact not true.

The software we are talking about is not dropped from the heavens. It is created by extremely large, powerful companies in pursuit of profit. If this software harms people, these companies are not neutral actors merely swept along with the tide of technology.

> How far does the state have to intervene? How much responsible behaviour can be expected from the user themselves?

Surely the most relevant question is how much responsible behavior can be expected from the companies themselves? They are the ones armed with research departments actually studying the effects of how their software affects people.

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