Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Social Media Is the New Smoking

theroamingmind.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

121–130 of 222 posts

Re: Social Media Is the New Smoking

#121

Post by johnfn »

vacri wrote: post #112
thinbeige wrote: post #4

I remember one vacation which was the first after many years: I was lying at the beach enjoying the view. I was so happy that I could afford some vacation after years of suffering and watching millions of vaction pictures from my friends on Facebook. Avid for revenge, I took a picture of the stunning beach view and wrote in big letters 'MY LIFE IS BETTER THAN YOURS'. At that moment I realized what Facebook is about (…

> 'MY LIFE IS BETTER THAN YOURS'. At that moment I realized what Facebook is about I don't do the facebook thing myself, but close friends do, and they use it as a social organiser, not an arena for braggadocio. Want to get rid of a table? Facebook. Shitty day and want to invite friends to the pub? Facebook. Cat memes? Facebook. I'm not fond of facebook, but let's face it; you can't blame the hammer if you make a shi…

> you can't blame the hammer if you make a shitty chair with it.

Sure I can, if the hammer has defects that cause it to make terrible chairs for nearly everyone who uses it.

Re: Social Media Is the New Smoking

#122

Post by [deleted] »

Declanomous wrote: post #91
irrational wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I get so many invitations to join Linkedin as well as questions about why I'm not on Facebook or other social media platforms that it drives me nuts. Why am I considered strange for not participating? It's like tattoos. Everyone where I live has multiple tattoos and I'm considered a freak because I don't have any. Maybe I just want to be a special butterfly.

I used to be way too involved in Facebook. One day I realized that I was spending way too much time seeking validation there rather than actually taking steps to better myself. I defriended literally everyone that I wasn't invested in, which was about 800 people. The amount of time I freed up was incredible. It didn't hurt my social life at all, since I still keep in contact with everyone I want to keep in contact wi…

[deleted]

Re: Social Media Is the New Smoking

#123

Post by Aron »

No. It's not the new smoking. There's an uncomfortable process involved with acculturating to social media and it will continue to evolve, but there is far more upside when used well which is hard to say with smoking.

Re: Social Media Is the New Smoking

#124

Post by ryandrake »

oliv__ wrote: post #10

> "That the dude off in the corner consuming his Instagram feed will be looked at the same as the guy standing at the street corner sucking on a Marlboro." I don't think that's ever going to happen. Social networks, contrary to smoking, are built on the very nature of human beings: being social animals. And that's certainly not going away. It would be like wishing that the buddies socializing on the corner would be l…

> Social networks, contrary to smoking, are built on the very nature of human beings: being social animals.

I can’t think of much less social than sitting by yourself, in your own little world, consuming an endless feed of nothing on a web site. If there’s anything Social Media isnt, it’s “social”.

Re: Social Media Is the New Smoking

#125

Post by justboxing »

yomly wrote: post #74
thesuitonym wrote: post #56

I don't know about you, but I don't find that I'm missing out on anything by pulling my phone out when I'm waiting for my car to warm up. I don't think I'm wasting time because when I start getting bored with a movie that I'm watching, I pull out my phone and check my messages. I don't miss the ten minutes of watching the news before leaving for work that has been replaced with ten minutes of Facebook. Maybe reading…

I don't think your experiences are reflective of the masses. I lack citations but here are some observations that I hope are recognised enough to be apparent. People often find themselves unintentionally browsing Facebook mindlessly. People also get addicted to the chase of social validation via likes. People have been shown to be exhibit social anxiety caused by others' lives appearing to be more glamourous than the…

> People have been shown to be exhibit social anxiety caused by others' lives appearing to be more glamourous than their

Yes. Not just social anxiety, but down right depression.

Source: Research Links Heavy Facebook And Social Media Usage To Depression => https://www.forbes.com/sites/amitchowdhry/2016/04/30/study-l...

Re: Social Media Is the New Smoking

#126

Post by spraak »

jriot wrote: post #57
oliv__ wrote: post #10

> "That the dude off in the corner consuming his Instagram feed will be looked at the same as the guy standing at the street corner sucking on a Marlboro." I don't think that's ever going to happen. Social networks, contrary to smoking, are built on the very nature of human beings: being social animals. And that's certainly not going away. It would be like wishing that the buddies socializing on the corner would be l…

Nothing pisses me off more when I am talking with someone and they take their phone out to check a notification or people using their phone during a conversation or meeting. Once someone pulls their phone out, I stop caring about the conversation, meeting etc... While cigarette smoke gives me a headache, I would actually prefer someone pull out smoke as I know they are still engaged in the conversation or meeting. So…

Yeah, I usually stop talking when someone does that and wait for them to look up, though sometimes they don't...

Re: Social Media Is the New Smoking

#127

Post by blahblahxyz »

Mediterraneo10 wrote: post #15
WheelsAtLarge wrote: post #13

If Social Media Is the New Smoking then I'm smoking 12 packs a day. HELP! Seriously,there is truth in this statement. People are sinking into their phones and computers and we all think it's amusing. Living peacefully in a society is hard enough when we have to learn to deal with one another. What will happen when we lack those abilities because all we need to do is interact with our technology? Red lights need to be…

"Living peacefully in a society is hard enough when we have to learn to deal with one another. What will happen when we lack those abilities because all we need to do is interact with our technology." Being wrapped up in social media might serve as a way of pacifying society. When unemployment is rising due to automation and policy, give the masses shiny websites they can spend all day on and lots of computer games,…

You do realize that Facebook and Google already do this with the intention of squeezing every last advertising dollar possible out of you, right? There doesn't need to be a conspiracy to pacify the masses (assuming this crap even does that because I think there's a very good argument that it doesn't); distracting people is just a side effect of exploiting your data.

Re: Social Media Is the New Smoking

#129

Post by ryandrake »

pan69 wrote: post #43

Early January I removed the Facebook, Instagram and Twitter apps from my phone (don't really use any other social media). Since that time I think have have logged into Facebook twice (desktop browser) only to be presented with a barrage of gunk on which I closed the browser tab. See yasss... Every once in a while I will scroll through my Twitter feed (desktop browser). I follow a lot of pixel art artists so I get to…

I’ve been off Facebook for at least 5 years, and the quality of life improvement was greater than anything I’ve done since quitting TV (about 12 or so years ago). I now have time for two fairly time consuming (physical world) hobbies, whereas before it was endless vacuous screen-time, devoid of purpose. Highly recommended—you won’t miss it!
Post reply on HN