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Teen mental health is plummeting and social media is a major contributing cause [pdf]

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Re: Teen mental health is plummeting and social media is a major contributing cause [pdf]

#901

Post by closeparen »

Nextgrid wrote: post #575
chimen wrote: post #465

Ofc it is plummeting. We are letting them install apps that have people behind them with the sole job of making them more addictive. We are handing them drugs, multiple variants if I may say so. I had to fight with my daughter for TikTok and whatnot, she is only allowed with YouTube due to school/tutorials/classes etc and I still find myself pretty often having to snap her out of shorts and other bs with an algorithm…

It's not a problem that can be solved at an individual level. Physical drugs are relatively easy to not get into because for the most part, the majority of society doesn't use them and their users are still mostly marginalized. If your current social group are drug addicts it's possible to find a new, healthier group. Digital drugs on the other hand are something that nearly everyone uses and thus you have to use the…

Why are you contributing content to what you consider a disgusting business model? (You do understand that Hacker News is many thousands of times more potent an attention predator than any of the Big Tech ad platforms, right?)

Re: Teen mental health is plummeting and social media is a major contributing cause [pdf]

#902

Post by tekknik »

Nextgrid wrote: post #575
chimen wrote: post #465

Ofc it is plummeting. We are letting them install apps that have people behind them with the sole job of making them more addictive. We are handing them drugs, multiple variants if I may say so. I had to fight with my daughter for TikTok and whatnot, she is only allowed with YouTube due to school/tutorials/classes etc and I still find myself pretty often having to snap her out of shorts and other bs with an algorithm…

It's not a problem that can be solved at an individual level. Physical drugs are relatively easy to not get into because for the most part, the majority of society doesn't use them and their users are still mostly marginalized. If your current social group are drug addicts it's possible to find a new, healthier group. Digital drugs on the other hand are something that nearly everyone uses and thus you have to use the…

> Digital drugs on the other hand are something that nearly everyone uses and thus you have to use them if you want to effectively fit in and participate in society. Not consuming these drugs just makes you an outcast especially in a ruthless environment such as school.

Perhaps this idea is the problem then? Having some mental requirement to fit in I would qualify as a mental illness. What did the parents, or others in their life, do to them to require confirmation from others to the point it literally defines their life?

Re: Teen mental health is plummeting and social media is a major contributing cause [pdf]

#903

Post by tsol »

spacechild1 wrote: post #864
imbnwa wrote: post #751

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm surprised there's little discussion of how it affects people who aren't legal minors

My wife had to stop Facebook because it made her feel aweful.

I had to stop and I still gave a hard time. I can only imagine how hard it is for kids with poor impulse control

Re: Teen mental health is plummeting and social media is a major contributing cause [pdf]

#904

Post by tekknik »

sigspec wrote: post #732
omnicognate wrote: post #661

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To enforce restrictions is indeed very hard. I know because I do it, using a whitelisting proxy. It's possible (even uncircumventably for mobile devices, using a managed device and an always-on wireguard vpn) but it is far from trivial to do and I am in a vanishingly tiny minority in doing it. To enforce literacy is of course easy. Talk to them, teach them. To enforce that a child actually follows your advice not to…

Well said. I've been using a combination of OS, Service, and hardware tools to slowing restrict and guide my children online. It's incredibly difficult and tedious. The average non-tech parent has no hope in this regard.

Sounds like a product idea.

Re: Teen mental health is plummeting and social media is a major contributing cause [pdf]

#905

Post by tsol »

paxys wrote: post #68

Social media definitely amplifies it, but consider the economic and social environment that teenagers have lived through their entire lives. Multiple major recessions, a global pandemic, rising inflation, housing and education getting more expensive by the day, prospect of a mountain of debt right after graduation, climate that will be unlivable in a few decades, political extremism becoming the norm, and massive gov…

Teens are worried about inflation? I think these comments just show how out of touch people are with kids

It reminds me of that Marilyn Manson quote;

>Michael Moore : If you were to talk directly to the kids at Columbine or the people in that community, what would you say to them if they were here right now?

>Marilyn Manson : I wouldn't say a single word to them. I would listen to what they have to say, and that's what no one did.

The same adults that resonated with, once again grow up and don't listen to the kids

Re: Teen mental health is plummeting and social media is a major contributing cause [pdf]

#906

Post by tekknik »

alt227 wrote: post #695
navjack27 wrote: post #597

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How the heck is your daughter not on the mode of YouTube where it doesn't switch to whatever is recommended next and how come she isn't taught not to watch shorts? I don't have kids and I don't want kids but like is it really hard to completely enforce some sort of a online media literacy?

IMO If you dont have kids, you do not have the knowledge to comment on how to raise them. No matter how many kids or families you have known or seen, having your own is a completely different world.

This is just wrong. You can both not have kids and still know how to raise them. Either by reading materials, watching others, watching siblings or watching nieces and nephews. People should really stop invalidating others opinions because they don’t check the appropriate boxes (or box in this case). Why is it easy for some parents and impossible for others? Something, somewhere, went wrong.

Re: Teen mental health is plummeting and social media is a major contributing cause [pdf]

#907

Post by tekknik »

Loughla wrote: post #659
Shadonototra wrote: post #586

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Honestly, do you think parents are able to effectively counter literal billion-dollar companies that pour resources into making sure their apps are engaging (read: addictive)? How? not by trying to put the fault on them or dodging the issue by finding excuses if you ban tiktok today, tomorrow will appear a new one, embrace them for what they are, social communication mediums, and educate your kids with the problems…

I didn't say anything about tiktok? I'm very confused by your comment. It's full of strawman arguments around tiktok, which I am not talking about exclusively. And an ad hominem about my parenting. There isn't really anything in this to counter what I said, which was that parents are vastly under-resourced and under-prepared compared to the companies putting these apps into the world.

Your parent did say something about tiktok.

If parents all parents are “ vastly under-resourced and under-prepared” then how come this is not a universal problem?

How come someone can’t point fault at the parents without the parents getting super defensive? All parents must be perfect (none are) and clearly are experts at raising kids right? Do you think, at least in some cases, it is inattentive parents?

Re: Teen mental health is plummeting and social media is a major contributing cause [pdf]

#908

Post by tsol »

Broken_Hippo wrote: post #350
bambax wrote: post #319

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mmm, what? The things you are listing don't concern "teenagers" in their young teens, at all. They start being a problem for young adults, maybe. The study in question debates young teens, ages 11-13 and 13-15, well before college. In my experience as a parent of young teens, while they're sensitive to climate issues and of course "suffered" [1] during the pandemic, they aren't politicized, don't care about house pri…

"The things you are listing don't concern "teenagers" in their young teens, at all. They start being a problem for young adults, maybe" That's just not true, though. I'm over 40: My first formal 'current events' portion of a social studies class happened when I was 12, IIRC. The first gulf war was the current topic. Middle schoolers would be told now that they need to think about going to college, how doing well in h…

Yes they know about that just like they know about the plague and the possibility of an asteroid stroke destroying life on planet earth. But is inflation a big part of their day to day worries? Probably not. Political extremism maybe, but they're probably wrapped up in that as well. We've created a society where if you aren't openly fighting the bigots you are seen as allowing them to exist. So teens are very politically active and I wouldn't be surprised if it stresses them like it stresses adults. But unless they're experiencing poverty I don't think kids are getting depressed because they're worried about wealth inequality. Unless the teen in question is Karl Marx

Re: Teen mental health is plummeting and social media is a major contributing cause [pdf]

#909

Post by thawaya3113 »

indymike wrote: post #481

Unpopular opinion: Social media is a great scapegoat, but it is not the source of the problem. It is where they go to communicate and cope. My sole qualification to post this: I have four kids that are either teens or in their early 20s, and one who will be a teen next year. Here is what I see out there: 1. Kids have little or no slack in their schedule. This means very little freedom, and very little time to work th…

None of this explains the global prevalence of this phenomenon.

Everything you’ve mentioned is highly limited to the US.

Asian countries, for example, have been reducing pressure on kids in terms of schooling and exams over the past decade or so.

Re: Teen mental health is plummeting and social media is a major contributing cause [pdf]

#910

Post by thawaya3113 »

pixodaros wrote: post #889
theclansman wrote: post #633

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah same, the internet of early 2000s was a super cozy place for me, I remember everyone at first was like "wow it's so amazing how you can be someone else online," now the internet is just a giant window to your life. I remember my mom telling me to never share any info about me online, now everyone has their entire lives uploaded, full name, face picture, phone number, it's all there. Funny thing is it didn't actu…

Its a common misperception that "everyone has their entire lives uploaded", because humans are subject to availability bias. I recently spent some time living with young university students in a non-English-speaking European country, and most of them had one social media account (generally locked or pseudonymous) plus text apps. Data brokers are not able to collect and resell anything they please in most civilized co…

What do you think they’re doing in text apps? Why do you think Facebook bought WhatsApp

Sure, your WhatsApp conversations are end to end encrypted. Except if you’re in a group conversation. Or if you have the on by default backup turned on.

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