Yes, social media is a cause of the epidemic of teenage mental illness
1–10 of 1001 posts
Re: Yes, social media is a cause of the epidemic of teenage mental illness
#2It is also not just teenagers. Its effects are extremely broad.
Re: Yes, social media is a cause of the epidemic of teenage mental illness
#3[flagged]
Re: Yes, social media is a cause of the epidemic of teenage mental illness
#4[flagged]
Which is basically a mental illness.
Re: Yes, social media is a cause of the epidemic of teenage mental illness
#5It's electronics in general. I was in 7th grade at the inflection point, when the iPhone 3G first widely popularized having a pocket computer. Facebook went mainstream around the same time. Suddenly kids became a lot less social, and that never flipped back.
Re: Yes, social media is a cause of the epidemic of teenage mental illness
#6[flagged]
Or any ultra radical movement. The internet promotes extreme ideologies, as seen through hyperbolic, overly dramatic headlines and videos that make the front page of Tiktok, YT, news everyday.
Re: Yes, social media is a cause of the epidemic of teenage mental illness
#7The solution is unironically just to do what China does. Create restrictions on how long kids can use the web and what they can use. It won't be perfect but it will be the biggest influence towards better habits and cultural norms.
Re: Yes, social media is a cause of the epidemic of teenage mental illness
#8It's electronics in general. I was in 7th grade at the inflection point, when the iPhone 3G first widely popularized having a pocket computer. Facebook went mainstream around the same time. Suddenly kids became a lot less social, and that never flipped back.
It's mobile devices, not electronics in general. Social networking was around before widespread mobile computing, e.g. MySpace, but it was a supplement to offline social interaction, not a replacement. Back then, you had to make a conscious decision to use the computer and log in. Having the device in your pocket at all times drastically changes how it's used.
Re: Yes, social media is a cause of the epidemic of teenage mental illness
#9I feel so bad for teenagers/kids who we essentially screwed over with this tech experience. That said, I don't feel great for the rest of us either! I feel like my phone has become a significant negative in my life. And in general, I'm quite scared because we have put things in place that we know are bad for mental health:
1. Even if we may not like it all the time, there is tons of data that show that personal interactions and relationships are good for mental health. With so much technology and so many things going remote (I'm not just talking jobs, but I'm talking about the fact that it's very easy, for example, to never need to walk into a store anymore. I recently went to a fast food restaurant and there were no customers inside at lunchtime, normally a busy time, and I ordered on a kiosk and everyone else just ordered at the drivethrough) it's harder and harder to just see random people and our friends without explicit planning.
2. As someone who recently got over a severe episode of depression, I strongly believe time spent in nature and just outside in general is really good for the mental health of humans. With so much tech it's easier and easier to basically never go outside unless you make it a point to do so.
Re: Yes, social media is a cause of the epidemic of teenage mental illness
#10It's electronics in general. I was in 7th grade at the inflection point, when the iPhone 3G first widely popularized having a pocket computer. Facebook went mainstream around the same time. Suddenly kids became a lot less social, and that never flipped back.
That's a very common description of hitting puberty, so witnessing this in 7th grade specifically doesn't demonstrate your claim.
I lack the domain knowledge to evaluate the evidence against the null hypothesis, so you may well be correct — you just haven't actually demonstrated it with your anecdote.