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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

#201

Post by Aerbil313 »

codyb wrote: post #165
Liftyee wrote: post #123

Fundamentally, 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…

I just bought a flip phone and a cool pocket sized camera. I've gotten down to leaving my phone at home a fair amount, and leave my phone on a speaker that's not near anything I sit on when at home. It's awesome, come on back out to reality. I frequently go out at this point, come back home and go to see if I have any messages and realize my phone was on me the whole time and I had no idea (I also silence pretty much…

You don't need to leave behind the conveniences of a smartphone to have a phone that is smart but without the dopamine traps. There are solutions out there like TechLockdown which allow you to make a dumbphone out of your smartphone using MDMs, while still keeping critical things like messenger apps, a predefined list of websites, navigation apps, etc.

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

#202

Post by Aerbil313 »

dankwizard wrote: post #75

Not sure why poeple don't just put the phone down? We really are the most sheltered gentle generation. Oh no, this app is taking up my time, we need to BAN IT.

Congratulations! You have apparently won in life by successfully developing internal regulation during childhood and also won the genetic lottery by not having a disorder of the dopaminergic system like ADHD. Now please leave be the significant fraction of the population who don't have those privileges, thank you.

I've missed critical final exams and flights literally scrolling Instagram. Mental health disorders exist, alas.

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

#203

Post by Aerbil313 »

ajam1507 wrote: post #96
flumpcakes wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not how addiction works. If you could "just stop" then it isn't really an addiction.

This is the lie that keeps people addicted. Plenty of people quit their very real addictions every day. If you imagine you're helplessly addicted, you will remain addicted.

I believed that for years, I did CBT, changing beliefs, "just do it" et cetera and I was helpless still, went from one addiction to another. Turns out I had ADHD. My life was totally changed after medication.

You don't have infinite willpower. If humans had infinite willpower humanity would have worked itself to death long ago. There is a natural balance of willpower in your brain, it's called the dopaminergic system. If you have ADHD, you have much, much less willpower than a normal person because you literally lack the dopamine hormone in your prefrontal cortex. No amount of belief will magically create dopamine in your brain out of thin air.

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

#204

Post by kurthr »

basilgohar wrote: post #135
kurthr wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

All media, newspapers, and social media networks do this. I'm not sure why you're raising this specifically in response to the fact I was stating TikTok was uniquely able to bring awareness to the issue of the genocide in Palestine. Many people were completely unfamiliar with the plight of the Palestinians over the past 100 years and TikTok (and, to a much less degree, other platforms) brought the issue to their atte…

Do they really have knowledge or do they just have "vibes"?

One could document how Israel became what it is and what actually happened, but we don't have that. We have feelings.

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

#205

Post by codyb »

andai wrote: post #170
codyb wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just bought a flip phone and a cool pocket sized camera. I've gotten down to leaving my phone at home a fair amount, and leave my phone on a speaker that's not near anything I sit on when at home. It's awesome, come on back out to reality. I frequently go out at this point, come back home and go to see if I have any messages and realize my phone was on me the whole time and I had no idea (I also silence pretty much…

What kinda phone do you have? I was nostalgic for getting an old nokia, but when I actually did, using it was surprisingly painful. I guess that's kind of the point? I still need a proper mp3 player (been using an old android) and a camera though. ...and a Kindle, and a fax machine ;) As a side note, the "old" style Nokias now seem to be running on some kind of emulation... The Nokia startup sound lagged and stuttere…

Yea, when I'm on the move I rarely use more than texting and the camera. So I got a Nokia flip phone, and I'll see how it is. Worst comes to worst it'll be 90 bucks lost and I'll move back to something a bit more full featured. But really I chose for size, and to be able to text and make calls. It's possible I'll end up sticking with my mini for a while.

I also got a really nice pocket camera which I'm much more excited about. It's called a Ricoh, so the camera and the phone should fit in my pockets without any real trouble or bulge. Plus keys, and wallet, and I feel like I'm set.

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

#206

Post by codyb »

Aerbil313 wrote: post #201
codyb wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just bought a flip phone and a cool pocket sized camera. I've gotten down to leaving my phone at home a fair amount, and leave my phone on a speaker that's not near anything I sit on when at home. It's awesome, come on back out to reality. I frequently go out at this point, come back home and go to see if I have any messages and realize my phone was on me the whole time and I had no idea (I also silence pretty much…

You don't need to leave behind the conveniences of a smartphone to have a phone that is smart but without the dopamine traps. There are solutions out there like TechLockdown which allow you to make a dumbphone out of your smartphone using MDMs, while still keeping critical things like messenger apps, a predefined list of websites, navigation apps, etc.

Yea, I know, but smart phones are getting bigger and bigger. I'd rather a much nicer camera, and a small dumb phone which texts and calls. As opposed to a smart phone with a much worse camera, that also texts and calls and does maps.

I can just ask people if I need directions. I'm already don't use location services on maps, and usually look things up before I leave anyways.

Just leaving the phone at home is really the nicest thing, and I'll probably continue doing that a fair amount as well.

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

#207

Post by SirMaster »

flocciput wrote: post #113
SirMaster wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

There are also laws about the age you need to be to use social media platforms...

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

#208

Post by thijson »

Quarrelsome wrote: post #185
nobodywillobsrv wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's worth stating that addictive tech is addictive partly because it doesn't work very well. So they build useful things and then make them pretty bad and less useful. If they were useful your interest or need would complete and you would move on. Fundamentally I think it is important to say this. Addiction confounds some things in the space of designed systems

Spot on. Like how Facebook used to be quite useful to stay in touch with friends, or how dating websites used to be kinda decent to find like-MINDED people but have now all been enshittified in order to keep people on them.

I used to not mind my kids watching Youtube on the home TV, but lately when I walk by they are doom scrolling one short after the other. I tell them not to watch shorts, but a day later I walk by and they are back to doom scrolling. I'm finally forced to remove Youtube from the TV. On the phone, Instagram is the same way, I see my teenager doom scrolling it quite often. They claim it helps them relax.

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

#209

Post by [deleted] »

NoPicklez wrote: post #137
dmix wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Huh, that's exactly the solution to addiction? Step 1 is always changing your behaviour patterns to break out of habits and avoid things that draw you into it. Make your bedroom a phone-free zone, charge it in the living room overnight, use the built in parenting and screentime controls that every modern phone OS has, don't let your kids stare at the screen all day. Etc. This isn't rocket science. Self control is one…

I think we can all agree that the solution is to stop, but that it is difficult to do so. I'm not addicted to alcohol or gambling, but I know that it takes significantly more willpower for those that are to just stop than it does for me to not have that chocolate bar at night. There is a proportionality to it

[deleted]

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

#210

Post by jajuuka »

nunez wrote: post #80
dankwizard wrote: post #75

Not sure why poeple don't just put the phone down? We really are the most sheltered gentle generation. Oh no, this app is taking up my time, we need to BAN IT.

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

This isn't about the small group of people who lack self control. It's about the vast majority that can use something responsibly. Most people can consume alcohol and gamble without giving their lives to it.

Not to mention this presupposes that social media addiction is rampant. But there isn't a scientific consensus on that. This lawsuit reads like scaremongering of the past around television and comic books. Instead of regulating content or user privacy we get these dog and pony shows.

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