Why is TikTok always singled out in these social media addiction lawsuits? Instagram and YouTube are just as guilty, if not more so.
Tiktok, Instagram and I think X are all getting sued at the same time.
TikTok settles just before social media addiction trial to begin
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Re: TikTok settles just before social media addiction trial to begin
#122I am less concerned about addiction than i am about introducing micro targeted foreign agendas into our nation’s cultural landscape.
Re: TikTok settles just before social media addiction trial to begin
#123Fundamentally, I think having a source of "free dopamine" on tap is not going to do any good. If I can get distracted from my real world tasks anytime, anywhere, the immediate incentives to work on real things disappear. Effectively, one can get stuck in a local minimum.
I don't know how to solve it, but personally I've chosen to block as many feeds/algorithms as I can, so I have to make a conscious decision to search for something (making it just as hard as making the conscious decision that I'm likely putting off). The only feeds I have right now are the FT and Hacker News. Everything else is just a blank home screen with a search bar.
Re: TikTok settles just before social media addiction trial to begin
#124I 100% agree with the premise that TikTok is addictive and even dangerous to consume in large amounts (that's why I don't consume it at all). But I feel the exact same about cheeseburgers. Should I be able to sue McDonalds if I let my kid eat 100 of them in one sitting? Again, I get the danger here, and I don't like TikTok as a whole. I just don't really know where the line is between something that the parent is all…
The thing I really liked about Tiktok originally was the departure from the perfectionism of Instagram, and people being ok with participating in the dance moves and trends. It was pretty positive. The thing is once you have an engaged audience sometimes you might want to keep them captivated (and their attention farmed to resell ads to).
With that being said, I don't know if McDonalds is not a really usable comparison.
McDonalds is not an endless conveyor belt of food arriving in your hands 24/7 and beeping and buzzing you when it's not to learning how and what to put in front of you to keep eating endlessly until you can't eat anymore.
There's more useful studies that doomscrolling and shorts literally decrease brain size, increase depression, and lead to dopamine exhaustion.
Short Video players are digital slot machines. They seem to be designed to let people keep using it who might not be aware on how to build up defences, or of defences are needed. In a casino many of the things the games machines can and can't do are legislated by law. It might be surprising to learn how many of those things out right, similar to it, or unique to it can happen on a phone without circumstance. Casinos will also remind you to gamble responsibly, and be able to ban yourself if needed.
The line is really simple for kids - screens loaded with bright colors that are constantly changing with many layers of sounds from ages 1-5 pretty harmful at overriding their senses. Then, there's other content traps from there. The recent moves to schools that go screen free (or greatly reduce passive consumption) is critical. Putting a chromebook in front of a kid for 8 hours isn't always progress.
Re: TikTok settles just before social media addiction trial to begin
#125Fundamentally, I think having a source of "free dopamine" on tap is not going to do any good. If I can get distracted from my real world tasks anytime, anywhere, the immediate incentives to work on real things disappear. Effectively, one can get stuck in a local minimum. I don't know how to solve it, but personally I've chosen to block as many feeds/algorithms as I can, so I have to make a conscious decision to searc…
This is what drugs and alcohol can become if not used in moderation.
Once we have the AI holodeck (the full-sensory interactive, possibly multiplayer one), can you only imagine?
TikTok is only the punch card phase of this. TikTok may as well be black and white television. Just imagine what we might have in twenty years.
Maybe this is why we haven't found alien life. If their biologies have attention mechanisms like ours, maybe they automate highs and turn inward instead of outward. (I do like that better than AGI gray goo taking over galaxies.)
Re: TikTok settles just before social media addiction trial to begin
#126Fundamentally, I think having a source of "free dopamine" on tap is not going to do any good. If I can get distracted from my real world tasks anytime, anywhere, the immediate incentives to work on real things disappear. Effectively, one can get stuck in a local minimum. I don't know how to solve it, but personally I've chosen to block as many feeds/algorithms as I can, so I have to make a conscious decision to searc…
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Re: TikTok settles just before social media addiction trial to begin
#127Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Should I be able to sue McDonalds if I let my kid eat 100 of them in one sitting? There are other options for addressing social problems besides lawsuits. Other rich places in this world are not nearly as fat as us. I suspect environments also matter for social media addiction. We should investigate why!
It's actually because they have more lawsuits and more severe lawsuits, leading companies to be afraid of breaking the law so they don't, and then lawsuits decrease. Lawsuits are the one official mechanism for righting wrongs. They're the only mechanism that the perpetrator of a wrong can't just choose to ignore.
I would like to prevent wrongs as well as right them.
Re: TikTok settles just before social media addiction trial to begin
#128Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's actually because they have more lawsuits and more severe lawsuits, leading companies to be afraid of breaking the law so they don't, and then lawsuits decrease. Lawsuits are the one official mechanism for righting wrongs. They're the only mechanism that the perpetrator of a wrong can't just choose to ignore.
I would like to prevent wrongs as well as right them.
Suing companies early and often prevents other companies from doing the same things because they don't want to get sued.
Re: TikTok settles just before social media addiction trial to begin
#129The elephant in the room of all of this is that TikTok was the social media platform that allowed for the genocide taking place in Palestine by Israel to reach audiences directly. All other major social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter) heavily censored this information or outright deplatformed and canceled accounts of prominent dissemination of information about the war crimes being committed by Isr…
I'm fully against censorship, and I don't want it covered up, but at some point profiting off of the suffering of others and distracting people with holocaust porn or influencer virtue signaling is self defeating. What did all of that social audience gain? Clicks, entertainment, dollars, while children died? That's disgusting.
And in the end is there anything of value left, any documentation of what happened, or how to prevent it from happening again? Nope. That thankless unprofitable work is done by others and ignored by the same consumers.
Re: TikTok settles just before social media addiction trial to begin
#130Fundamentally, I think having a source of "free dopamine" on tap is not going to do any good. If I can get distracted from my real world tasks anytime, anywhere, the immediate incentives to work on real things disappear. Effectively, one can get stuck in a local minimum. I don't know how to solve it, but personally I've chosen to block as many feeds/algorithms as I can, so I have to make a conscious decision to searc…
This is what drugs and alcohol can become if not used in moderation. Once we have the AI holodeck (the full-sensory interactive, possibly multiplayer one), can you only imagine? TikTok is only the punch card phase of this. TikTok may as well be black and white television. Just imagine what we might have in twenty years. Maybe this is why we haven't found alien life. If their biologies have attention mechanisms like o…
Agreed, AI/VR definitely offers nightmarish opportunities.
At least drugs/alcohol are self limiting: you have to meet your dealer, go to a store, eventually run out of money...
TikTok/Reels/Shorts are free, infinite, and in your pocket on a device you're now forced to use in daily life (bank/2fa/messaging apps).