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TikTok settles just before social media addiction trial to begin

bbc.com

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Re: TikTok settles just before social media addiction trial to begin

#111

Post by conception »

SunshineTheCat wrote: post #21

I 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…

To add, McDonalds is required to list calories and nutritional information. There are various agencies and regulations guarding us from them selling us rat meat instead of cow. Education on “junk food” is widespread and has (had…) widespread government education programs.

There is a great deal of information given to parents on what is in McDonalds.

I would say that most parents, not those on a tech site, have no idea how tiktok works, what studies have shown about it or its dangers.

Re: TikTok settles just before social media addiction trial to begin

#112

Post by [deleted] »

johnnyanmac wrote: post #60
Mordisquitos wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To your points I would add the following difference between TikTok on the one hand and cheeseburgers, drugs, cigarettes, etc. on the other. 3. Targeting -- even under the (debatable) premise that they are intentionally designed to be addictive, cheeseburgers, drugs and cigarettes do not actively target each addict by optimising their properties to their individual addiction. If I am addicted to smoking, the tobacco i…

Yes. Target the algorithms, not the method of delivery. Hacker news also counts as social media, but here we all are seeing the same feed on the same site with minimal (if not zero) tracking to try and extract info from the audience. Even a first step of requiring transparency in the algorithms would quickly shatter this stronghold on people's minds.

[deleted]

Re: TikTok settles just before social media addiction trial to begin

#113

Post by flocciput »

SirMaster wrote: post #103
nunez wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not drinking or gambling works so well for alcoholics and gamblers. Who needs rehab anyway?

And are their laws about how much I can go gamble at the casino right now or how much I can go buy at a liquor store and drink tonight? Pretty sure too much gambling and too much alcohol is worse than watching too many short videos. So how can we say that spending time on figuring out how to block people from watching too many short videos is a better use of our time and resources than limiting gambling and drinking.

There are laws about the age you can be to gamble or drink, restrictions on the establishments where these things can occur, and you can have your license revoked for driving while under the influence, or be banned from a casino. Don't act like those are totally unrestricted activities.

Re: TikTok settles just before social media addiction trial to begin

#114

Post by NoPicklez »

conception wrote: post #111
SunshineTheCat wrote: post #21

I 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…

To add, McDonalds is required to list calories and nutritional information. There are various agencies and regulations guarding us from them selling us rat meat instead of cow. Education on “junk food” is widespread and has (had…) widespread government education programs. There is a great deal of information given to parents on what is in McDonalds. I would say that most parents, not those on a tech site, have no ide…

I agree, there's plenty of information out there and nutrition is often taught in schools.

Additionally, other content like TV and movies has content ratings, social media does not have anything of the sort.

Re: TikTok settles just before social media addiction trial to begin

#115

Post by edoceo »

ajam1507 wrote: post #99
jader201 wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But I feel the exact same about cheeseburgers. The problem with analogies to things like cheeseburgers, gambling, drugs, cigarettes, etc., is: 1. Availability -- you have to go somewhere to acquire/participate in these things* 2. Cost -- you have to have money to spend. That is, it's not something you can consume/participate in for free -- you have to have money to spend. * Gambling is theoretically freely availabl…

So what you're saying is that we should ban porn then?

No, they saying it (and other things) should be regulated (it is)

Re: TikTok settles just before social media addiction trial to begin

#116

Post by NoPicklez »

SunshineTheCat wrote: post #21

I 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…

Food and nutritional science is something many of us know (to a degree) and has been taught often in high schools. That is partly why you know that cheeseburgers aren't great for you, because you know they're highly processed, high in salt and high in fat and that's written on the label.

But the knowledge of the harmful impacts of social media aren't as abundant, nor are they identified or classified.

McDonalds are required to list the nutritional information of what you're consuming. TV shows and movies have content ratings to know what you're going to be consuming. Social media like Tiktok does not have any form of rating to know what you're consuming or going to consume.

There is a lot of less rigour on short from content like Tiktok, in comparison with McDonalds.

Re: TikTok settles just before social media addiction trial to begin

#117

Post by direwolf20 »

SunshineTheCat wrote: post #21

I 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…

Yes, you should be able to recover damages from McDonald's if they made their food addictive on purpose.

Re: TikTok settles just before social media addiction trial to begin

#118

Post by direwolf20 »

ajam1507 wrote: post #90
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Should I be able to sue McDonalds if I let my kid eat 100 of them in one sitting? If McDonald’s is handing them out for free at the playground, yes.

I hate that this needs to be said, but giving kids free food is not illegal.

If the food contains heroin, it's illegal. There's a line somewhere.

Re: TikTok settles just before social media addiction trial to begin

#119

Post by direwolf20 »

xboxnolifes wrote: post #97
ajam1507 wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hate that this needs to be said, but giving kids free food is not illegal.

This requires many asterisks, as once you hit any appreciable size of "giving out food" you tend to hit tons of local ordinance about food safety, permits, and just general distrust of directly interacting with other people's kids at a playground (depending on the age we are talking about, but since we said playground, I'm assuming pretty young).

To add, little children have been arrested for having lemonade stands in the USA before.

Re: TikTok settles just before social media addiction trial to begin

#120

Post by direwolf20 »

biophysboy wrote: post #83
SunshineTheCat wrote: post #21

I 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…

> 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.

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