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I think that the basic idea of the article is frighteningly true; social media is becoming that thing I use when I feel sick, bored, or just want to escape real

I think that the basic idea of the article is frighteningly true; social media is becoming that thing I use when I feel sick, bored, or just want to escape reality. The problem is smoking feels the same wiether 1 person is doing it or 1 million people do it; social media only really works when everyone you know does it. This makes it even scarier when you realize this will make it exponentially harder for we as a society to make a decent dent in social media: if your high depends on others, you might pressure others into sustaining your high.

irrational 9y ago
I get so many invitations to join Linkedin as well as questions about why I'm not on Facebook or other social media platforms that it drives me nuts. Why am I considered strange for not participating? It's like tattoos. Everyone where I live has multiple tattoos and I'm considered a freak because I don't have any. Maybe I just want to be a special butterfly.
- franciscop 9y ago
  It has been demonstrated that social media REDUCES overall happiness. Just say that. At least that works for me.
- Declanomous 9y ago
  I used to be way too involved in Facebook. One day I realized that I was spending way too much time seeking validation there rather than actually taking steps to better myself. I defriended literally everyone that I wasn't invested in, which was about 800 people. The amount of time I freed up was incredible. It didn't hurt my social life at all, since I still keep in contact with everyone I want to keep in contact with. Social media is largely a narcissistic pursuit, and studies have repeatedly found that higher social media use is correlated positively with narcissistic personality traits. I wouldn't be surprised to learn the same thing about people with tattoos as well. The number of agonizingly boring people I know who are constantly getting tattoos is absurdly high. That being said, I know a lot of people who have plenty of tattoos and are not narcissistic at all. But it seems like the recent trendiness of tattoos is somewhat correlated with the everyone is special movement.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
- baby 9y ago
  > It's like tattoos Come on! It takes literally nothing to create a Facebook account. You can even use a fake mail and name (it might be against the ToS but you still can). The only thing it will take from you is time. (No it won't make your life worst, just use messenger.com and not the main API with the newsfeed so that people can contact you.) I would compare that to having a phone back then, when it was kind of the only way to contact you. If you don't want friends, then probably no-one will harass you asking if you have a phone number so you're fine.
  - ben_w 9y ago
    Nothing, except your time. Your time, and the crude attempt to model what you consider to be worthy of your time, so that people with money can waste it in just the right way to make you do what they want you to do — watch an ad, buy a product, vote for a policy.
    - baby 9y ago
      > Nothing, except your time. For the benefits that it gives you, I don't see that as a waste. I can keep in touch with all my friends around the world, and I can organize trips, parties, dinners, get invited to weddings, see the new baby of a friend, etc... I'm tired of only reading the bad side of this story.
      - ben_w 9y ago
        If that's all you use it for, you are a rarity. Of course, every example you just gave can also be done with email, and email doesn't hide things from you just because seeing them means you spend less time using email.
        baby 9y ago
        > If that's all you use it for, you are a rarity. Yeah it can be used for much more. These are just good examples. > Of course, every example you just gave can also be done with email It's not practical. That's the point.
- strken 9y ago
  It's a question of social norms. Most people I know use Facebook as a messenger and event calendar tool but ignore the dopamine-hacking feed, and most people I know use LinkedIn as a rolodex and recruitment tool but ignore the... whatever else LinkedIn does. From the perspective of someone who uses Facebook almost entirely to organise weekend drinks and birthday parties, refusing to use Facebook is like refusing to read a pdf or respond to text messages, because it forces your friends to use other tools to stay in touch with you, just to solve a problem they don't have. YMMV of course.
ghurtado 9y ago
> The problem is smoking feels the same wiether 1 person is doing it or 1 million people do it Smoking also requires millions of people doing it to work. You need enough consumers so that the manufacture of cigarettes is viable, and both acquiring the habit and continuing it are highly dependent on the number of smokers that you surround yourself with. It would be very difficult to be the only smoker in a large enough community of non-smokers.
- ido 9y ago
  Smoking regularly is also terrible for your health, which i think is the main reason it's become so maligned. Despite all the supposed harm social media is not nearly as damaging.
  - posterboy 9y ago
    That's a red herring, but I'll bite. It can lead to smoking, i guess. So it's potentially at least as dangerous. And the other way around, too, so smoking is comparitively potentially just as dangerous.
    - ido 9y ago
      Not sure what you mean. Social media can lead to smoking? In what way? I mean beyond the trivial "anything can lead to anything" way.
- posterboy 9y ago
  Corolarily, when surrounded by non-smokers, it's easier to non-smoke, too.
- bryansum 9y ago
  Not to mention smoking is often a social activity -- the "smoke break."

irrational 9y ago

I get so many invitations to join Linkedin as well as questions about why I'm not on Facebook or other social media platforms that it drives me nuts. Why am I considered strange for not participating? It's like tattoos. Everyone where I live has multiple tattoos and I'm considered a freak because I don't have any. Maybe I just want to be a special butterfly.

franciscop 9y ago
It has been demonstrated that social media REDUCES overall happiness. Just say that. At least that works for me.
Declanomous 9y ago
I used to be way too involved in Facebook. One day I realized that I was spending way too much time seeking validation there rather than actually taking steps to better myself. I defriended literally everyone that I wasn't invested in, which was about 800 people. The amount of time I freed up was incredible. It didn't hurt my social life at all, since I still keep in contact with everyone I want to keep in contact with. Social media is largely a narcissistic pursuit, and studies have repeatedly found that higher social media use is correlated positively with narcissistic personality traits. I wouldn't be surprised to learn the same thing about people with tattoos as well. The number of agonizingly boring people I know who are constantly getting tattoos is absurdly high. That being said, I know a lot of people who have plenty of tattoos and are not narcissistic at all. But it seems like the recent trendiness of tattoos is somewhat correlated with the everyone is special movement.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
baby 9y ago
> It's like tattoos Come on! It takes literally nothing to create a Facebook account. You can even use a fake mail and name (it might be against the ToS but you still can). The only thing it will take from you is time. (No it won't make your life worst, just use messenger.com and not the main API with the newsfeed so that people can contact you.) I would compare that to having a phone back then, when it was kind of the only way to contact you. If you don't want friends, then probably no-one will harass you asking if you have a phone number so you're fine.
- ben_w 9y ago
  Nothing, except your time. Your time, and the crude attempt to model what you consider to be worthy of your time, so that people with money can waste it in just the right way to make you do what they want you to do — watch an ad, buy a product, vote for a policy.
  - baby 9y ago
    > Nothing, except your time. For the benefits that it gives you, I don't see that as a waste. I can keep in touch with all my friends around the world, and I can organize trips, parties, dinners, get invited to weddings, see the new baby of a friend, etc... I'm tired of only reading the bad side of this story.
    - ben_w 9y ago
      If that's all you use it for, you are a rarity. Of course, every example you just gave can also be done with email, and email doesn't hide things from you just because seeing them means you spend less time using email.
      - baby 9y ago
        > If that's all you use it for, you are a rarity. Yeah it can be used for much more. These are just good examples. > Of course, every example you just gave can also be done with email It's not practical. That's the point.
strken 9y ago
It's a question of social norms. Most people I know use Facebook as a messenger and event calendar tool but ignore the dopamine-hacking feed, and most people I know use LinkedIn as a rolodex and recruitment tool but ignore the... whatever else LinkedIn does. From the perspective of someone who uses Facebook almost entirely to organise weekend drinks and birthday parties, refusing to use Facebook is like refusing to read a pdf or respond to text messages, because it forces your friends to use other tools to stay in touch with you, just to solve a problem they don't have. YMMV of course.

ghurtado 9y ago

> The problem is smoking feels the same wiether 1 person is doing it or 1 million people do it Smoking also requires millions of people doing it to work. You need enough consumers so that the manufacture of cigarettes is viable, and both acquiring the habit and continuing it are highly dependent on the number of smokers that you surround yourself with. It would be very difficult to be the only smoker in a large enough community of non-smokers.

ido 9y ago
Smoking regularly is also terrible for your health, which i think is the main reason it's become so maligned. Despite all the supposed harm social media is not nearly as damaging.
- posterboy 9y ago
  That's a red herring, but I'll bite. It can lead to smoking, i guess. So it's potentially at least as dangerous. And the other way around, too, so smoking is comparitively potentially just as dangerous.
  - ido 9y ago
    Not sure what you mean. Social media can lead to smoking? In what way? I mean beyond the trivial "anything can lead to anything" way.
posterboy 9y ago
Corolarily, when surrounded by non-smokers, it's easier to non-smoke, too.
bryansum 9y ago
Not to mention smoking is often a social activity -- the "smoke break."