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Almost half of British teens feel addicted to social media – study

theguardian.com

31–40 of 108 posts

Re: Almost half of British teens feel addicted to social media – study

#31
post #7

When did we lose the moral authority to make things illegal for minors? I believe in 50-100 years it will be a worldwide scandal that these skinner boxes were ever given to children let alone adults. AI optimised attention slideshow that likely drains you neurochemically and disrupts your reward circuitry the same way heroin or ecstasy does? On paper this shit should clearly be regulated.

One contributing factor is the surprisingly recent meme that corporations exist solely for the benefit of their shareholders. It’s a totally ahistoric and obviously antisocial meme that gets repeated like it’s gospel, even by otherwise intelligent people. This perspective should be literally laughed at and made fun of as a moral system suitable only for the greediest and most myopic among us.

Isn't it an inevitable part of Capitalism though? If the directors of a corporation start acting to not maximise the shareholders profits, they'll soon be replaced or the corporation bought out by more ruthless/sociopathic people.

Re: Almost half of British teens feel addicted to social media – study

#32

> “Social media research has largely assumed that [so-called] social media addiction is going to follow the same framework as drug addiction,” said Turner. Orben’s team and others argue that this is likely to be oversimplistic and are investigating whether the teenagers cluster into groups whose behaviour can be predicted by other personality traits. > It could be that, for some, their relationship is akin to a behav…

Yes this is why I've been trying to ski as much as possible this winter.

1. Helps my eyes by letting them see things at a distance. staring far into mountains on the lift ect.

2. Keeps me away from internet. I have dumb phone and a whistle with me in my pocket.

3. Helps me reconnect with my body and rediscover what it can do.

4. Mountain air seems to clear up my sinuses

5. And ofcourse benefits of physical excerscise.

6. I just feel very fulfilled at the end of day a stark contrast to depression of day filled with daze of the internet.

7. This is bit of bro science but seems to improve my digestion. Being in internet daze all day seems to put a pause on my digestion.

Re: Almost half of British teens feel addicted to social media – study

#33
post #6

Can we switch social media off for 8 hours per day, 9-5pm maybe. I think it would make everyone happier and I bet nobody would miss it.

I would miss it. I would also make it a matter of principle to refuse if someone tried to force a shutdown on us - I've got my Mastodon and Lemmy instances, and if we were to have to go underground, we'd go underground.

Re: Almost half of British teens feel addicted to social media – study

#34
post #6

Can we switch social media off for 8 hours per day, 9-5pm maybe. I think it would make everyone happier and I bet nobody would miss it.

LeechBlock on Firefox has timed blocks. It works on Android and desktop.

Delete the apps, use the websites.

Re: Almost half of British teens feel addicted to social media – study

#35
post #7

When did we lose the moral authority to make things illegal for minors? I believe in 50-100 years it will be a worldwide scandal that these skinner boxes were ever given to children let alone adults. AI optimised attention slideshow that likely drains you neurochemically and disrupts your reward circuitry the same way heroin or ecstasy does? On paper this shit should clearly be regulated.

I'd be a completely different person if I'd grown up under a 21 drinking age. It was often my only social outlet.

Even the kids used to go out until the RAVE Act.

Re: Almost half of British teens feel addicted to social media – study

#36
It would be more productive to stop prodding at the symptoms and instead consider looking into potential root causes like car dependency and commercialization or erosion of third places.

Kids aren't just staring at a glowing rectangle due to some unexplainable pharmacological effect it may possess, they just crave human connection and sense of belonging just like everyone else. Using medical terms to dehumanize them is not productive at all.

Re: Almost half of British teens feel addicted to social media – study

#37
post #7

When did we lose the moral authority to make things illegal for minors? I believe in 50-100 years it will be a worldwide scandal that these skinner boxes were ever given to children let alone adults. AI optimised attention slideshow that likely drains you neurochemically and disrupts your reward circuitry the same way heroin or ecstasy does? On paper this shit should clearly be regulated.

Overdramatic. Social media may be bad but it is not like heroin or ecstasy. Engaging in moral panics, on the other hand, seems to provide a high to some individuals just like heroin or ecstasy. Let's regulate them instead.

There's already evidence of the harm caused to teenagers' self esteem due to endless comparisons with peers over social media. This leads to many types of mental illness such as depression, anxiety, eating disorders etc. Considering that we're exposing almost the entire teenage population to these harmful effects, it's hardly overdramatic.

Re: Almost half of British teens feel addicted to social media – study

#38
post #6

Can we switch social media off for 8 hours per day, 9-5pm maybe. I think it would make everyone happier and I bet nobody would miss it.

Plenty of people use it responsibly. Why should they be punished just because some people can't seem to control their behavior?

Re: Almost half of British teens feel addicted to social media – study

#39
post #6

Can we switch social media off for 8 hours per day, 9-5pm maybe. I think it would make everyone happier and I bet nobody would miss it.

Would this be the same 8 hours for everyone worldwide, would it be by the user's timezone, or would we get to choose our own 8 hours?

This question was brought to you by memories of not being able to set the timezone of my tamagotchi and it subsequently dying because it was awake when I was asleep.

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