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The effect of deactivating Facebook and Instagram on users' emotional state

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Re: The effect of deactivating Facebook and Instagram on users' emotional state

#191

Post by sureglymop »

vekker wrote: post #158
xyzal wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the EU should flex their regulatory muscle and forbid algorithmic feeds on by default unless the networks break european society as the US is broken.

I'm sure that would work out fine. Just like the GDPR regulation made the web so much better & more private, and the promise of the AI act is boosting innovation in Europe...

The GDPR regulation is great and arguably does make the web more private and better. At the very least, it's better than having no regulations.

I've even been able to successfully use it to remove something private about me from the internet. I don't think I would have even gotten a response had there been no legal precedent.

You can always argue about how some regulations are badly implemented or incomplete but I believe it would be very misguided to believe that no regulations are instead the better alternative.

Re: The effect of deactivating Facebook and Instagram on users' emotional state

#192

Post by anshumankmr »

AStonesThrow wrote: post #137
anshumankmr wrote: post #117

Removing Instagram from my daily routine has been the best change I did, apart from adopting a cat. Just saw some stuff on my feed I had no desire to see apart from brainrot, and the algorithm kept shovelling some controversial figures too, which I had no interest in, so that also did not help its cause.

Have you considered creating an IG account for the cat? Could be really famous. The next "Tardar Sauce".

Have given it thought yes, my photography skills are not that great, but I do have good shots of him here and there.

here's one: https://unsplash.com/photos/GuK3U7typ18

Re: The effect of deactivating Facebook and Instagram on users' emotional state

#193

Post by avhception »

kleiba wrote: post #166

I'm certainly an anomaly but since to me the downsides of social media have always been quite prominent and seemed to outweigh the benefits by a margin, I never jumped on the social media train. But I've got to say, it's getting harder and harder to keep that up. As our kids get older especially, almost all of their social activities are somehow tied to social media one way or the other: no matter what they're joinin…

I never used any "social media" besides the instant messengers. I try to minimize WhatsApp in favor of better options. It's a constant, uphill battle. I feel that dating is impossible w/o WhatsApp, if you exchange phone numbers with someone at a bar, it's completely useless if you can't contact them on WhatsApp afterwards. Almost nobody (at least here in central Europe) has any other messenger, and every other avenue of contact would be either considered very pushy (like calling) or from the 90s (like SMS).

Taking part in group events also becomes a headache if you don't join the related WhatsApp group.

I find it appalling that basic features of human social functions are subject to the whims and profiteering of a quasi-monopolist company. There should be heavy regulations, at the very least.

Re: The effect of deactivating Facebook and Instagram on users' emotional state

#194

Post by anshumankmr »

blitzar wrote: post #152
anshumankmr wrote: post #117

Removing Instagram from my daily routine has been the best change I did, apart from adopting a cat. Just saw some stuff on my feed I had no desire to see apart from brainrot, and the algorithm kept shovelling some controversial figures too, which I had no interest in, so that also did not help its cause.

I wish my cat was around in the phone camera and instagram days, he would have cleaned up online.

Never too late you know... assuming you still have your catto.

Re: The effect of deactivating Facebook and Instagram on users' emotional state

#195

Post by scrollaway »

polar8 wrote: post #139
CuriouslyC wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd argue that small amounts of alcohol facilitate relaxation and socialization, which probably saves a lot more lives from preventing homicide and suicide than it costs in cancer and liver disease.

After socialization comes drunk driving which alone kills a quarter million people annually.

It's deeply fascinating to many europeans living in cities that one would need to drive to go to a bar.

My closest bar is 100 meters away. If I'm willing to walk 20 minutes, the radius can probably hit around 100 different ones.

Re: The effect of deactivating Facebook and Instagram on users' emotional state

#196

Post by photonthug »

highwaylights wrote: post #68
nomilk wrote: post #56

The surprise here is how little of an effect it has. Deactivating facebook makes you only 1/16th of one standard deviation happier. And instagram even less. And this was measured during elections, when the effect is likely to be greatest. Kinda crazy that the magnitude is so small! (my next [admittedly rather cynical] thought is "who funded this?")

I’d be interested in the results of a study that cuts out all social media, but the problem I can already see with that is self-selection bias (the people that would volunteer for it are probably already eager to get away from social media so the results would likely be skewed). Personally I’ve been mentally in a better place since getting rid of my social media accounts during COVID, but it does cause problems becau…

The perceived utility of social media seems pretty variable, not just across people, but with the same person in different circumstances. With covid, social media might scare people out who were regular users previously, and yet for other occasional or reluctant users it's suddenly seen as the only option for human contact and they use it constantly. After lock-downs are over, people flip to the polar opposite of their previous preference. With recessions, social media might be the only affordable entertainment but during better times, many would rather do something else. In general I bet it's insanely hard to run good experiments for behavioural economics in volatile times, even if you're really trying to be careful about methodology.

Re: The effect of deactivating Facebook and Instagram on users' emotional state

#197

Post by Aromasin »

smelendez wrote: post #90
8s2ngy wrote: post #41

I believe many of the problems in our current social media landscape could be solved by eliminating the "feed" and instead displaying posts, updates, and pictures from friends, family, and those we know in real life. This approach might conflict with the profit models of big tech social media and could go against what most people have become accustomed to. Personally, I would love a smaller social network where I can…

This has moved heavily into group chats and I’m not sure it’s coming back. Group chats are basically the Circles that Google+ saw the need for but could never get fully set up. A lot of people don’t want to share personal updates and photos to a broad swath of friends and acquaintances. Meanwhile Instagram and Facebook keep evolving. Facebook is turning into a weird Reddit for older people. Instagram is turning into…

Eh, I'd disagree on the Instagram front. If you look at the reels section, where most spend their time, it's just a more deplorable Tiktok. 80% of the content on there is soft core porn advertising one OnlyFans girl or another. The other 20% seems to be brain rot memes. I reinstalled it recently after 8 years of not having it, and immediately deleted it.

Re: The effect of deactivating Facebook and Instagram on users' emotional state

#198

Post by fossgeller »

musha68k wrote: post #187
kleiba wrote: post #166

I'm certainly an anomaly but since to me the downsides of social media have always been quite prominent and seemed to outweigh the benefits by a margin, I never jumped on the social media train. But I've got to say, it's getting harder and harder to keep that up. As our kids get older especially, almost all of their social activities are somehow tied to social media one way or the other: no matter what they're joinin…

I see the opposite trend, as the (imo much needed) shock from Jonathan Haidt's 'The Anxious Generation' is only starting to really resonate in the minds of educators and parents. No smartphones allowed at school, strict usage limits for older kids at home, etc.

If only somehow we managed to make social media uncool for the kids, that’s the most sure way they’d stay away from it.

I guess proper education on the real aspects of the social media phenomenon would be the real deal. For example, explaining how/why the companies use their algorithms to keep you in there; influencers only want to sell you a product; why posts/stories don’t reflect reality at all, etc.

But understanding all that would require quite some amount of emotional maturity from both the kids and parents themselves. Sadly, that doesn’t seem to be the reality at all, there are adults that still can’t see through the cracks..

Re: The effect of deactivating Facebook and Instagram on users' emotional state

#199

Post by pbhjpbhj »

RadiozRadioz wrote: post #167
lloeki wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> some of my family post insane political views Would they still if any such poster's feed would strictly only be viewable by families and friends? (I have no idea)

Yes. Crazy political people are crazy political people and think the issue they care about is the most important thing ever.

The issue they've been told is important, right? For example it was vital in the minds of some in USA to put import taxes (tariffs) >100% on all Chinese goods.

They would have seemed to care about that, until Trump got told that wasn't working (or, as likely, the market had been swung far enough) and did a 180 removing tariffs on what the public were told were the most vital things to tariff...

All those people didn't change their mind at the exact moment it was needed to swing the stock market back and for you mate the oligarchs money - just Musk et al. have built a brainwash machine at a national level.

It's an important distinction - when interviewed it seems barely any of those being manipulated can form a coherent thought about "the issue they care about".

Re: The effect of deactivating Facebook and Instagram on users' emotional state

#200

Post by nabla9 »

nomilk wrote: post #56

The surprise here is how little of an effect it has. Deactivating facebook makes you only 1/16th of one standard deviation happier. And instagram even less. And this was measured during elections, when the effect is likely to be greatest. Kinda crazy that the magnitude is so small! (my next [admittedly rather cynical] thought is "who funded this?")

> The fact that less than one percent of the people who were invited to the study completed the experiment underscores that one should be cautious in generalizing results outside our sample. Most of this sample selection is driven by the fact that only a few percent of people click on research study invitations or social media ad

The self selection bias in these ad based invitation studies is just out of whack.

I suspect that those who participate were already considering quitting.

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