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Grandparents are glued to their phones [video]

bbc.com

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Re: Grandparents are glued to their phones [video]

#81

Post by visarga »

reactordev wrote: post #50

Social media is a cancer and more people need to realize this. No amount of platforming will fix this. It’s designed to extract behavioral traits about you. It’s designed to spy on your shopping and browsing habits. It’s designed to build a model of you. Everyone fell right in.

> No amount of platforming will fix this.

The problem with social media is precisely the platform, it ranks what keeps people addicted, seeing more ads. Creators conform to the Algorithm and produce slop to capture some of that scarce attention. Nobody cares about users. Same shit happens on Google Search, YouTube, Amazon Search, Google Store, App Store... all platforms produce shitty feeds and search results. And before them we had TV and newspapers as slop making platforms.

Re: Grandparents are glued to their phones [video]

#82

Post by parpfish »

Aurornis wrote: post #51
retrac98 wrote: post #19

My parents generation are the most screen addicted people I know. Absolute slaves to Facebook’s algorithm. It’s really disheartening to see.

It’s definitely not limited to Facebook. About half of the 50-70 year olds in my family and my wife’s family are screen addicted without Facebook. They live on questionable news websites, messenger apps, Nextdoor, and some others. It’s strange to hear a 60-something rant about how evil Facebook is and then go on to regurgitate countless conspiracy theories they picked up from whatever websites they’re reading this mo…

I shouldnt be surprised that my mom is obsessed with her smartphone. As a kid, I remember her talking with friends on the landline phone for what seemed like HOURS

Re: Grandparents are glued to their phones [video]

#83

Post by d41dev »

This is something ive started to notice, the older generation becoming victims to doomscrolling, my dad being one of them. What makes it worst is that unlike kids who group in the social media world, and therefore have some ability of discerning between whats real and fake, the older gen are so gullible when it comes to fake news, propaganda, and ai generated content.

Not only that but they then go on to spread this false news among there whatsapp friends

Re: Grandparents are glued to their phones [video]

#84

Post by impure »

tietjens wrote: post #44
impure wrote: post #26

I was reading up on some RCTs on social media and mental health recently and one of the surprising findings is that social media is actually worse for older people.

Can you share some things you were reading?

This is the one I read: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S266656032... which says how older participants benefit more from restricting social media use.

Re: Grandparents are glued to their phones [video]

#85

Post by tcskeptic »

CompoundEyes wrote: post #66

I see it a different way. Parents reach a period in life where their kids strike out on their own and want little to do with them beyond a safety net. That’s normal and natural and the parents move onto a new phase too. In fact they might just not be that into you anymore. It’s ok if visits upset their routine and holidays are somewhat irritating. Same for being not overly enthusiastic about taking on care giving rol…

My parents moved from Texas to Chicago this year to be near my sister instead of me (their son) because in their very traditional minds they need to be taken care of by a daughter in their old age. I get to send checks. I thought it was a terrible idea, they have friends and family here and Chicago is very cold. That being said they moved into a community of her 11 kids and their spouses and their kids — probably 30+ relatives in their orbit. And they are surrounded by people who love them and help them. It’s really been good for them. Much less scrolling and much more conversation, group meals, board game playing, storytelling.

Re: Grandparents are glued to their phones [video]

#86

Post by tossandthrow »

heraldgeezer wrote: post #64
allendoerfer wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here in Germany they also ignored the demographics, so our social insurance systems (retirement but also health) are heading towards a catastrophe, because there is no capital backing them. They are fundamentally relying on the next generation being bigger or at least equal. This has turned them essentially into Ponzi schemes. The taxpayer has to jump in, making the state less and less able to do anything at all. Of…

You are describing every pension system in the world.

Well, he explains all deferred spend.

Deferred spending is quite unnatural. That I can work 1 hour today and buy youghurt in 2 years is an artifact of our system.

But this also relies on someone making that youghurt in 2 years from now.

It is that key dogma that will likely be under pressure for future pensioners.

Re: Grandparents are glued to their phones [video]

#88

Post by allendoerfer »

heraldgeezer wrote: post #64
allendoerfer wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here in Germany they also ignored the demographics, so our social insurance systems (retirement but also health) are heading towards a catastrophe, because there is no capital backing them. They are fundamentally relying on the next generation being bigger or at least equal. This has turned them essentially into Ponzi schemes. The taxpayer has to jump in, making the state less and less able to do anything at all. Of…

You are describing every pension system in the world.

ChatGPT thinks, that in the US social security makes up about 30-40% of the retirement income of a typical American, while the German system makes up about 80-85% of a retired German. Home ownership rate in Germany is also way lower.

Germany is an outlier in that there is no capital backing for that generation whatsover. The problem has been known for 30 years, they just chose to ignore it.

Re: Grandparents are glued to their phones [video]

#89

Post by borski »

CompoundEyes wrote: post #66

I see it a different way. Parents reach a period in life where their kids strike out on their own and want little to do with them beyond a safety net. That’s normal and natural and the parents move onto a new phase too. In fact they might just not be that into you anymore. It’s ok if visits upset their routine and holidays are somewhat irritating. Same for being not overly enthusiastic about taking on care giving rol…

Except that doomscrolling causes aged folks to deteriorate in health faster than being active in some way, just like for everyone else.

If it were simply that they weee living their own lives, I don’t think anybody would take issue with that.

But they aren’t - they are spending their lives on their phones, doomscrolling, which is much more likely to cause accelerated aging.

No, I don’t have a study for this, but it is not a secret that being active and not on your phone improves health outcomes.

Re: Grandparents are glued to their phones [video]

#90

Post by mech422 »

allendoerfer wrote: post #40
50208 wrote: post #12

Seniors are the most vulnerable people on the internet, the most likely to be fooled by disinformation, the most likely to vote, and are one of the biggest threats to civil society. Boomers are destroying what previous generations have built.

Here in Germany they also ignored the demographics, so our social insurance systems (retirement but also health) are heading towards a catastrophe, because there is no capital backing them. They are fundamentally relying on the next generation being bigger or at least equal. This has turned them essentially into Ponzi schemes. The taxpayer has to jump in, making the state less and less able to do anything at all. Of…

It's going to be interesting when the Millenials retire - IIRC, that generation was almost as large as the boomers. Gen-Z/Gen-Alpha that are going to be supporting them are a LOT smaller.
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