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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

#291

Post by noduerme »

johnisgood wrote: post #284
noduerme wrote: post #281

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeh, I know. It's a kinda sad fact about humans. You can handle it a few ways. The most tempting and easiest is to compete on the same level, sniping at other people. More difficult but similar is to take it a step further and be the biggest guy at the pub, deal some drugs, fuck more girls, act like a friend and then talk shit. Every bar has one... it's just a method. They learned it from the internet, or possibly fr…

I am mostly just a listener, and at times a mediator. It worked well for me in cases where I was liked by most. Sadly it does not work well even when it comes to family, they talk shit about me behind my back to people and so forth. > What I find respectable is someone who tells you honestly what they think Agreed.

I think. Hear me out. To be a good mediator is also to be brutally honest with everyone. And your takeaway isn't them liking you. If either side liked you, you'd be a shit mediator. lol

The good news is they'll respect you for something they can't get anywhere else.

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

#292

Post by Frieren »

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…

> 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 joining, minimally there's a WhatsApp group.

That is by design. To privatize public spaces and control what is said in that spaces to monetize it is the goal. No individual parent can fight the power of the corporations that push us in that direction.

The public discourse of TV and other media is dying, while the private echo chambers owned by corporations are increasing. That is not good either.

What I think the study is missing is the impact of social media on society, and impact on society on individuals wellbeing. I see an increase in paranoia, extremism, pessimism, etc. caused directly by that closed communities that spin out of control and create the perfect dish plate to grow the most paranoid people. For kids and teenagers it will be worse, as they are still growing and learning.

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

#293

Post by scyzoryk_xyz »

I have a love/hate thing with Instagram. I’ve been an avid user and it has been incredibly popular in my IRL social-circles over the last 5-10 years. Much has been said about the mechanics underpinning it but I’ve embarked on this experiment since the beginning of this year:

I started deleting Instagram every Sunday evening and installing every Friday.

I had this hypothesis that it’s the weekends that people have the best stuff to share and when it makes sense for me to still exist to everyone. And then nobody notices me disappear over the week. It’s a lot more enjoyable to be engaging with others’ content when you’re posting your own.

But the surprising result, after a few months, is that I’ve started missing weekends. The memory of all those people has faded and so has the urge to share.

Which brings me to a point: on one hand I do feel better day to day, but I’ve also felt a bit of a mourning period not being reminded about acquaintances’ lives. Kind of like a smoker who’s now missing out on social smoke breaks.

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

#294

Post by ballooney »

d1sxeyes wrote: post #97
ballooney wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How could you _possibly_ believe a company like meta would use a new technology to act in your interests rather than theirs?

It is not _completely_ naive to believe that in order for a service like Facebook to continue being successful, they must do _something_ that makes their users want to use it. And therefore, it is not completely illogical to think that Meta’s interests and users’ interests must align. (Not my opinion, just responding to your question)

No!

“they must do _something_ that makes their users want to use it.”

Is fentanyl acting in the interests of its addicts?

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

#295

Post by navbaker »

prmoustache wrote: post #252
Aromasin wrote: post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I guess it really depends if you have fed the algorithm with your preferences already.

This definitely works. I have two profiles on IG: one for musical instrument related things and one for painting miniatures. I’ve been able to keep both profiles strictly on topic by aggressively using the “not interested” button whenever something not related pops up.

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

#296

Post by lobsterthief »

grumple wrote: post #275
smelendez wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Group chats existed before any of this social media did. Pretty funny that we’ve come full circle on that.

iOS added more social network-like functionality to the group chats—like being able to name them, set a photo, etc. To me, this helped cement their popularity since you can create a bespoke “named thing” that makes it easier to return to. You don’t accidentally leave someone off when returning to the convo.

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

#297

Post by alistairSH »

ethbr1 wrote: post #288
alistairSH wrote: post #273

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem with Insta as a “hip LinkedIn” is I can’t even browse it properly without an account. Say I find an interesting business elsewhere and Ggogle them; their primary web presence is Insta; I find their page, but cannot browse their photos/posts. So, it’s a pretty shit tool for a business to share what it’s about.

I'd say that's a feature from Insta's perspective: leveraging user-created content into new user acquisition. And all they have to do is be shitty about monetizing their existing userbase via social pressure.

Oh yeah, Insta wants me to join. But I quit Meta last year because the algorithms suck donkey bollocks and drive me crazy. I'm much happier for it, but it is annoying to find a restaurant or craftsman who only uses Insta (or FB or whatever else).

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

#298

Post by TheOtherHobbes »

ethbr1 wrote: post #288
alistairSH wrote: post #273

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem with Insta as a “hip LinkedIn” is I can’t even browse it properly without an account. Say I find an interesting business elsewhere and Ggogle them; their primary web presence is Insta; I find their page, but cannot browse their photos/posts. So, it’s a pretty shit tool for a business to share what it’s about.

I'd say that's a feature from Insta's perspective: leveraging user-created content into new user acquisition. And all they have to do is be shitty about monetizing their existing userbase via social pressure.

For some reason Meta destroyed Insta as a monetisation tool. The algo used to be good for self-promo for artists and writers, and they tweaked it to kill that. Now it's useless.

There was a mass exodus to Threads, which is now a weird toxic liminal space apparently tuned for woke-adjacent rage bait blended with LinkedIn-for-creatives. "I have an opinion, now buy my fan art."

My take on all of these is that huge corporations are all polluters. We think of pollution as chemical and environmental, but Meta and X are the world's biggest sources of mental and emotional pollution - outside of the MSM.

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

#299

Post by ljm »

johnisgood wrote: post #264
noduerme wrote: post #254

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any way you cut it, "feeds" are more addictive. Your family and friends only post a couple times a day, but you have all day at work to look for some quick stimulation. I watch my girlfriend devolve into this stuff. Waking up and scrolling endless feeds from reddit and insta; it's her entertainment. It's not so much worse than me waking up and scrolling Google News...maybe it's better, in that she gets less depressed…

> actually hate me and talk shit about me whenever I'm not around. This happens virtually everywhere. It is extremely rampant. I have yet to find a place where there are humans and it does not happen, excl. friend circles.

Friend circles can be just as bad at excluding or ostracising others in the group for the pettiest of reasons.

There’s always going to be a shot caller or instigator behind it and everyone else who is weak willed will get on board with it.

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