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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

#51

Post by PragmaticPulp »

> "The correlational evidence showing that there is a link between social media use and depression is pretty definitive at this point," said Jean Twenge, a psychology professor at San Diego State University. "The largest and most well-conducted studies that we have all show that teens who spend more time on social media are more likely to be depressed or unhappy."

> Correlation is not causation, and one area of further study is whether greater social media usage leads to poor mental health outcomes or whether those who are depressed and unhappy are drawn to spend more time on social media.

These are correlational studies. They aren't saying that they have evidence that Facebook causes depression. They're saying that increased social media usage is correlated with depression.

Stepping back, it appears that screen time is correlated with depressive symptoms, with or without social media. One such study: Association between screen time and depression among US adults https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5574844/ This includes watching TV or simply using a computer for leisure of any sort.

I know Facebook is a popular villain, but we shouldn't be jumping to conclusions that this data means Facebook causes depression or that Facebook is uniquely worse than other forms of screen time in its correlation with depression.

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

#52

Post by azemetre »

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 weeks.

I'm guessing most of, if not all, social media is the same. I'm slowly trying to ween myself off but it is so meticulously addictive.

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

#53

Post by adolph »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #51

> "The correlational evidence showing that there is a link between social media use and depression is pretty definitive at this point," said Jean Twenge, a psychology professor at San Diego State University. "The largest and most well-conducted studies that we have all show that teens who spend more time on social media are more likely to be depressed or unhappy." > Correlation is not causation, and one area of furth…

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

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

#54

Post by gojomo »

adolph wrote: post #53
PragmaticPulp wrote: post #51

> "The correlational evidence showing that there is a link between social media use and depression is pretty definitive at this point," said Jean Twenge, a psychology professor at San Diego State University. "The largest and most well-conducted studies that we have all show that teens who spend more time on social media are more likely to be depressed or unhappy." > Correlation is not causation, and one area of furth…

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.

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

#55

Post by PragmaticPulp »

julienb_sea wrote: post #2

This article discusses correlational evidence. The basis for causation is speculative at best, and there is a long list of cofounding factors. The side effects of attempting to bar social media usage by teens might further amplify the problem, driving them away from carefully moderated platforms.

Screen time in general is correlated with depression ( https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5574844/ ), so it shouldn't be surprising that specific screen time activities are correlated with depression.

It's popular to demonize Facebook, but the reality is that sedentary activities in general are highly correlated with depressive symptoms. This goes both ways: Being sedentary instead of active is unhealthy and can exacerbate depression, and being depressed can exacerbate sedentary behavior.

Facebook is just one example of a sedentary activity, but watching TV and using a computer for leisure are also highly correlated with depression.

It's entirely possible that Facebook has some unique properties that make it worse than other sedentary time-wasting activities, but we need to be honest that it might simply be equivalent to other sedentary screen time activities in this regard. Without actual data, we're just guessing and projecting our feelings about Facebook onto correlation studies.

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

#56

Post by longhairedhippy »

skhr0680 wrote: post #37
tunesmith wrote: post #26

Has there been any further detail on what about social media is linked to depression? For instance, with Facebook, is it more because of the ads? Or is it more because of the engagement algorithms? Or, would it happen even if Facebook were just a reverse-chronological feed, populated only by your chosen friends, with zero advertising?

It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking everyone else’s life is perfect because they are always posting photos of the best moments

I was going to say this myself and it's the exact reason I left all social media platforms. So many times I came away feeling bad about myself, I can do that plenty on my own, I don't need digital help.

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

#57

Post by jsemrau »

crystalball909 wrote: post #42

will we live to see the day of wanting to 'work for a faang' as seeming as morally repugnant as wanting to work for monsanto, blackwater, etc? i guess nobody cares _really_ because everyone is addicted to their products, and no one wants to stop using the products because of fear of missing out. they should look into seeing if this stuff is actually making people depressed

Well, I wouldn't consider working for ad-based businesses and don't rely on advertising in business models for my startups.

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

#58

Post by ergocoder »

crystalball909 wrote: post #42

will we live to see the day of wanting to 'work for a faang' as seeming as morally repugnant as wanting to work for monsanto, blackwater, etc? i guess nobody cares _really_ because everyone is addicted to their products, and no one wants to stop using the products because of fear of missing out. they should look into seeing if this stuff is actually making people depressed

Some extremists will always try to push for the state of moral indifference (i.e. things are benelovent or evil, only two options)

We are seeing this everywhere already. Examples:

- Voting for republicans means you are killing gay people. Some will go as far as 'no vote' means you kill gay people.

- Working at Facebook means you killed Rohingya.

There is another option: nobody cares _really_ because working at Facebook is in no way as evil as working for the companies that you mentioned.

If we followed the same logic, then TV would be evil. It's addictive and sure cause depression. Hell, Hacker news makes me miserable sometimes with all these Show HN posts...

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

#60

Post by adolph »

a3n wrote: post #34
cryptoz wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The new tobacco industry...of decades ago. A long time ago we banned advertising smoking to children (or at least, tried to) but the beforetimes of that decision were rough. Kids commercials for smoking, toy cigarettes, etc. Facebook is actively marketing to youth today just like tobacco did decades ago, indeed. It's a great analogy because it also works well for adults: we're free to use the product/service, we have…

When I was a kid in the sixties I got chock-like candy cigarettes in my Christmas stocking, and for Halloween. I remember some were a bit powdery and you could blow on them and simulate smoke.

Those were the best! Chalky just like Tums

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candy_cigarette

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