I think the real issue is what causes social media to be this way?
We have the world's top engineers working in ways to gamify and create addiction to these apps because the more people use it, the higher the ad revenue and higher the performance in the stock market. Kids are totally addicted to it, many see their self-worth based on how many likes or comments to their posts they get.
So they portray this fake lifestyle, and everything they see is a fake lifestyle, together with mind-numbing content that is only entertaining in small amounts but yet tricks your brain into thinking its educational, and makes you watch 20 more in a row. Social media doesn't have to be this way and it actually shouldn't. But it is going to be very difficult to convince people in power who make tons of money this way to change this into a healthier more sane approach. Even the people living it will probably fight it as they prefer this fake life they live in without realizing that it is destroying their real one. The less attention you give to yourself and the more you constantly seek a distraction in your daily life whenever you find yourself bored or alone, the more you will lose control of it and you will want to be distant from it.
So yeah we can blame social media, but I think we should look at the root cause.
Yes, social media is a cause of the epidemic of teenage mental illness
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Re: Yes, social media is a cause of the epidemic of teenage mental illness
#442The author had it right in the first paragraph. In the 90s version of this hysteria, Congress passed a law that would have prevented access to education medical information, dirty curse words, and other filth from being published on the internet to protect the children. The federal government fought a case all the way to the Supreme Court to enforce it. If they had won that case, the internet would look very differen…
> But these are communications platforms. While technically true, this is a gross misrepresentation. Calling these sites and apps "communications platforms" makes them sound like they're just a mail service or a telephone. This is akin to referring to a casino as "the town square". > That's a freedom you and everyone else can take advantage of also. This "can" is only true in a strict legal sense, of course.
They’re communication platforms in only a very roundabout sense: like a newspaper’s “Letters to the Editor” section, but quicker. You send your message to Facebook, it decides (algorithmically, not through human editors) whether or not to publish it and to whom, and then Facebook sends that message onward.
Re: Yes, social media is a cause of the epidemic of teenage mental illness
#443> And what if it turns out that I am wrong? What if, in reality, the multinational collapse of adolescent mental health in the early 2010s was not caused by the arrival of phone-based childhood; it was just a big coincidence. Will kids be damaged by these four norms? I don’t think so. What irreversible harm will be done to children who spend more time listening to their teachers during class, more time playing and exploring together outdoors, and less time sitting alone hunched over a device?
I lived in a twilight zone where smartphone became available to masses right during middle school, and I can attest that if smartphones are banned kids will simply move on to computers or other networked handheld devices. Kids are more knowledgeable than adults give credit for and know how they are being manipulated, as well as workarounds. No phone policy in schools were routinely violated; for example, they carry multiple phones and hand out only one of them. There are guides available online how to break parental control (with varying effectiveness ofc). Trying to weed out the outliers just makes the experience worse for everyone.
Also I would be remiss if I don't highlight the upsides from social media, even for kids and adolescents: It's arguably the only safe haven for minorities. Imagine you're the only LGBTQ+ student in your school (probably not, but when nobody speaks up it's as good as none). Teachers won't tell, parents won't tell, then all you have left is the internet, on which there are plethora of such communities. Blocking access to such knowledge, the community and make them "spend more time listening to teachers" is exactly the recipe for mental illness/self harm, especially considering current trends.
Re: Yes, social media is a cause of the epidemic of teenage mental illness
#444Earlier quoted context omitted.
It was about table saws, not circular saws. There’s a big difference between the two. Table saw accidents often result in losing fingers and it’s not that difficult to mess up while using one. There’s a well known, proven, easy solution to table saw accidents called SawStop. It’s basically as obvious to use as a seat belt is if you want to be safe. The only problem is those table saws are very expensive. Social media…
Isn't SawStop patent encumbered? AFAIK the three point seat belt design's patent was made open by Volvo at the time, so the patent didn't hold back adoption.
The CEO committed to releasing the one remaining patent to the public domain earlier this year.
Re: Yes, social media is a cause of the epidemic of teenage mental illness
#445[deleted]
Re: Yes, social media is a cause of the epidemic of teenage mental illness
#446Earlier quoted context omitted.
It was about table saws, not circular saws. There’s a big difference between the two. Table saw accidents often result in losing fingers and it’s not that difficult to mess up while using one. There’s a well known, proven, easy solution to table saw accidents called SawStop. It’s basically as obvious to use as a seat belt is if you want to be safe. The only problem is those table saws are very expensive. Social media…
Isn't SawStop patent encumbered? AFAIK the three point seat belt design's patent was made open by Volvo at the time, so the patent didn't hold back adoption.
SawStop has publicly pledged to dedicate their patents to the public if this becomes mandated.
Re: Yes, social media is a cause of the epidemic of teenage mental illness
#447Social media just projects our toxic culture back at us. It a symptom not a cause. Until we address the reasons why our culture is toxic, mental health will continue to be a problem. Blaming social media, or any other easy target, just distracts from asking difficult questions and looking for real answers.
> Social media just projects our toxic culture back at us.
When I see Youtube trying to bait me into clicking on videos with disturbing, egregious, disgusting or sexualized thumbnails even though they have nothing to do with the keywords I entered in the search box, I fully disagree. There are also algorithms at play in order to maximise social media site bottom lines.
Some social media do promote and amplify some forms of content, in spite of the user, because it's lucrative to do so for them, otherwise they would not do it.
If you browse the internet without an ad blocker, you'll see these ads on mainstream websites that are optimized for clicks the exact same way.
Re: Yes, social media is a cause of the epidemic of teenage mental illness
#448Earlier quoted context omitted.
Everyone has the ability to exercise personal accountability for how much they gamble, smoke, eat junk food, play video games, use social media etc. However, if these consumer products become so addictive, or are designed to be so engaging and as a result people are by and large struggling to exercise personal accountability and it is causing adverse health outcomes. Then the government should step in, either should…
I explain to our kids that it is normal for them to have difficulties with stopping playing or looking at a stream from a social media platform. My explanation is that they are fighting against a team of PhDs optimizing everything to make them addicted. Luckily they all do a lot of sport and have this way disconnected time everyday.
Just want to say I love how simple yet effective this explanation is. Can I ask what age range your kids are in and do they understand this perspective enough that they are aware of it and take steps to avoid it?
Re: Yes, social media is a cause of the epidemic of teenage mental illness
#449Earlier quoted context omitted.
Now, define 'social media' clearly and we're all good.
I don’t think kids should be on the internet (public WAN) alone at all, so easy for me. They could get larger whitelists over time as they approach 18—no sites where they interact with adults.
So 14 year olds can't learn form old hackers to grow up programming/coding and such? That's really sad.
Re: Yes, social media is a cause of the epidemic of teenage mental illness
#450I'm no saint when it comes to addiction and being on my phone for more than I should be, but I have a sister who is in her mid 20s right now, and for the last couple of years she has slowly isolated herself from life and her family, she spends most of her time in her room on the phone and does weird things like get cosmetic surgeries, ordering cosmetics, etc. It's bizarre. She does this and all the while never leaves…
I think it's a bit reductionist to say it's devoid of purpose and meaning. Have you asked her what she feels her purpose/meaning is? You can disagree with it (I would as well), but I wouldn't assume she doesn't find any purpose/meaning in it. If she gets angry about it, then probably there is something deeper going on. Or, you're just asking the wrong way (if you come in assuming there's no meaning/purpose to her lif…
>I think it's a bit reductionist to say it's devoid of purpose and meaning
Probably he is old-fashioned and means the coventional old-style purpose and meaning, that old-timey thing that we'd call "actual purpose" nowadays.
Some backward people don't understand that "being isolated and doom scrolling all day" or "getting tons of destructive cosmetic surgeries" or "Amway" can also be a torally fine purpose in life.