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Researchers, lawmakers want Facebook's mental health research

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Re: Researchers, lawmakers want Facebook's mental health research

#171
So another piece of evidence suggesting that unhealthy social media use exacerbates depression. Am I the only one desensitized to hearing about how bad social media is for you. I've heard it so often that now my first thought when I hear that is, "yeah, duh."

But no one ever listens. People who post stories about how they "quit social media and never felt better" get tons of attention because most people recognized that social media is bad for them. But just like a drug, everyone is aware of these feelings but never listens to them. Those posts also remind people of their bad relationship with social media which puts them in an even deeper spell of unhappiness. So, in order to feel better about themselves they go on Facebook and watch Dude Perfect videos until they're numb.

Here is some unsolicited advice: just stop. That's it. It's the same with other forms of addiction (with the exception of drugs that can kill when you go cold turky. Luckily, social media is not one of them), you just stop doing them. What do they do in rehabilitation? They distract you from thoughts about drugs and try to create other avenues for you to get the reward mechanisms drugs gave you before. But really all that boils down to is you just stopping and moving on.

Re: Researchers, lawmakers want Facebook's mental health research

#172
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post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Earlier you said: > From my uninformed point of view that I am happy to be challenged on Now you say: > I think at this point it's quite clear that people are just speaking from a very superficial understanding or outright just making things up about this topic but are doing so as if they are subject matter experts How would you know, if your point of view is uninformed? Are you a lawyer?

I realized maybe a week or two ago regarding subjects that I am an expert on and professionally trained that people on Hacker News discuss it in a very uninformed manner and out of ignorance and that this ignorance spreads across the site like wildfire. People make bold and categorical claims that one would only expect of a subject matter expert when it's clear that they're anything but that. The issue is that the nu…

> So given that I know that discussions in my area of expertise on this site is full of misinformation, I have now come to doubt the quality and reliability of conversations on this site on some other topics that tend to attract a lot of assertive discussion.

Not just misinformation, but active disinformation.

> physics, math, machine learning, things where I trust there are enough experts here that no one would make such strong claims without immediately and easily being shut down by the community for doing so.

I think you are overestimating the quality on these subjects. They can be just as bad, and equally there can be highly technical and informative comments on law, biology, etc.

This site does not have consistency. Most answers to questions are poor and uninformed. However there is still good insight to be found.

Re: Researchers, lawmakers want Facebook's mental health research

#173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Being addicted to anything is a massive trigger for depression, especially when it displaces productive activities and replaces them with sedentary consumption. If you can't use something without becoming addicted, it's best to not use it at all. I know it sounds trite but I feel like social media today (or maybe all forms of media honestly) makes the barrier to ill-will extremely easy. If you were a young adult (a…

>How can I as an individual compete with billion dollar companies that literally hire neuroscientists/psychologists to make something as addictive as possible? You can't, which is the reason we need government regulation. This clearly isn't self-regulating (like most things) and the purpose of government is to act in these matters on behalf of society.

I quit. I self regulated. I don't like these companies, and I think they're evil.

I still don't think it's the government's job.

Re: Researchers, lawmakers want Facebook's mental health research

#174

It's very odd, I use to use Instagram and it would make me depressed. IDK how to explain, I don't even have any friends on there I follow. Just something about seeing everyone at their best 100% of the time, doing amazing things 100% of the time, never facing adversity 100% of the time. I know it's not realistic but it still gets to your head. I uninstalled it from my phone I feel better about myself after a few week…

> IDK how to explain, I don't even have any friends on there I follow. Social media is best used for keeping in touch with friends and family. If you're just browsing popular photos from people you don't know, it's basically an interactive and targeted version of watching TV. We all grew up understanding that endless TV consumption is an unhealthy activity that we should minimize, but it has taken a while for the sam…

> Social media is best used for keeping in touch with friends and family.

And we already had a good solution for that: email.

Re: Researchers, lawmakers want Facebook's mental health research

#175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> How can I as an individual compete with billion dollar companies that literally hire neuroscientists/psychologists to make something as addictive as possible? If someone can't moderate their own consumption of something despite their best efforts, abstinence works. Similar story with alcohol: Plenty of people have no problem moderating their consumption, but a small percentage of people really struggle with limitin…

>If someone can't moderate their own consumption of something despite their best efforts, abstinence works. It doesn't work for sex ed and I don't see why it would work for this.

I don't know any alcoholics who transitioned back to casual/social drinking. The ones who beat alcoholism stopped drinking altogether. You just have to admit to yourself it's something you can't control, and avoid it.

Re: Researchers, lawmakers want Facebook's mental health research

#176

Possibly there's more out there, but the evidence presented in the article is frankly pretty poor. I'd call it "inconclusive" if they asked me. A couple of studies referenced https://news.uark.edu/articles/55480/increased-social-media-... This one is not limited to Facebook it includes reddit on the list of "social media" sites. I think reddit's one of the most depressing places on the internet so I wouldn't be quick…

Site like Reddit and Imgur are puzzling. They claim to have great communities, but in reality they are absolutely toxic. Any opinion that’s not in line with that of overall community is instantly attacked and shutdown. If you want diversity you have a much better experience going to 4chan.

Re: Researchers, lawmakers want Facebook's mental health research

#177
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Earlier quoted context omitted.

Facebook may not cause depression but they seem to be cigarette-maker defensive about it.

Villagers coming at you with torches and pitchforks can make anyone defensive.

Or educated researchers with empirical studies and legit concerns

Re: Researchers, lawmakers want Facebook's mental health research

#178

It's very odd, I use to use Instagram and it would make me depressed. IDK how to explain, I don't even have any friends on there I follow. Just something about seeing everyone at their best 100% of the time, doing amazing things 100% of the time, never facing adversity 100% of the time. I know it's not realistic but it still gets to your head. I uninstalled it from my phone I feel better about myself after a few week…

Sadly this is true for HN also, atleast for me.

Re: Researchers, lawmakers want Facebook's mental health research

#180

It's very odd, I use to use Instagram and it would make me depressed. IDK how to explain, I don't even have any friends on there I follow. Just something about seeing everyone at their best 100% of the time, doing amazing things 100% of the time, never facing adversity 100% of the time. I know it's not realistic but it still gets to your head. I uninstalled it from my phone I feel better about myself after a few week…

I have the same feeling, and even here in HN, where people makes such amazing things and I'm just here lurking
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