A “gold standard” study finds deleting Facebook is great for your mental health
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Re: A “gold standard” study finds deleting Facebook is great for your mental health
#2This is the second article discussing the same study. Previous thread was based on the NYT article [1] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19041021
Very interesting to see the difference in tone in the headline alone between NYT and Salon.
* NYT - This Is Your Brain Off Facebook. Planning on quitting the social platform? A major new study offers a glimpse of what unplugging might do for your life. (Spoiler: It’s not so bad.)
* Salon - A "gold standard" study finds deleting Facebook is great for your mental health. A unique study praised for its rigor finds numerous upsides to deactivating your Facebook account.
[1] - https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/30/health/facebook-psycholog...
Re: A “gold standard” study finds deleting Facebook is great for your mental health
#3”Those who deactivated also observed a decrease in political polarization and news knowledge, and an increase in subjective well-being.”
Surely not reading Salon and its ilk would also result in this. Half of the toxic political posts on FB originate on sites like Salon, HuffPo... I think they’re more at fault for the political polarization of our society than FB which is mainly just a conduit.
Re: A “gold standard” study finds deleting Facebook is great for your mental health
#4I quite liked facebook. I don't have the urge to constantly check it, nor post much on it, but it was useful for events, casually keeping up with life events of acquaintances, and keeping a rolodex of semi-friends (e.g. people I met on holiday and would like to run into again).
I deleted it because the company seems thoroughly evil and doesn't respect my privacy. But if anyone comes up with a privacy-respecting alternative I'd be more than happy to become on of their first adopters.
Re: A “gold standard” study finds deleting Facebook is great for your mental health
#5Anyone think the same holds true for HN? :)
Re: A “gold standard” study finds deleting Facebook is great for your mental health
#6Anyone think the same holds true for HN? :)
That’s a study everyone on this site is probably interested in
Re: A “gold standard” study finds deleting Facebook is great for your mental health
#7”Those who deactivated also observed a decrease in political polarization and news knowledge, and an increase in subjective well-being.” Surely not reading Salon and its ilk would also result in this. Half of the toxic political posts on FB originate on sites like Salon, HuffPo... I think they’re more at fault for the political polarization of our society than FB which is mainly just a conduit.
FB also magnifies the worst posting from these outlets. You get the ultra incendiary stuff shared by everybody, while the more chill stuff doesn't get as much engagement and is ignored. I've been shown "Look at this awful thing!" stories more than once.
Re: A “gold standard” study finds deleting Facebook is great for your mental health
#8Anecdotally I use Facebook to coordinate social events with friends and find that it's been a helpful tool to easily keep in touch with friends. I've reconnected with friends through it too. I try and avoid political things and post a lot of cat pictures from a local cat shelter that I volunteer at, which people seem to enjoy. I dunno, I just try and keep my feed filled with mostly positive/upbeat things so maybe that helps?
Re: A “gold standard” study finds deleting Facebook is great for your mental health
#9Anyone think the same holds true for HN? :)
In general, many people waste time on internet. The internet and all of its available information is hard to resist (at-least in my case).
I've come up with a fix though! I simply have an addon in firefox that refreshes the web-page in 20 seconds! It is just enough annoyance to give up (especially after I am over halfway though an article..)
Re: A “gold standard” study finds deleting Facebook is great for your mental health
#10”Those who deactivated also observed a decrease in political polarization and news knowledge, and an increase in subjective well-being.” Surely not reading Salon and its ilk would also result in this. Half of the toxic political posts on FB originate on sites like Salon, HuffPo... I think they’re more at fault for the political polarization of our society than FB which is mainly just a conduit.
FB also magnifies the worst posting from these outlets. You get the ultra incendiary stuff shared by everybody, while the more chill stuff doesn't get as much engagement and is ignored. I've been shown "Look at this awful thing!" stories more than once.
It’s true people will share the most toxic of the content. Still, I blame the source that created it more than any other party, and it’s rich to see one of those sources claim to take the high ground and not even mention their own outsized role in the situation.