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Social media is a slow acting poison. It's extensive damaging effects will only be felt in 10-20 years. For the most part, it amplifies all the negative traits

Social media is a slow acting poison. It's extensive damaging effects will only be felt in 10-20 years. For the most part, it amplifies all the negative traits of humanity, twitter encourages ad hominem style debates and substanceless statements from all strata of soceity. Instagram/FB takes the need for human validation and the need to keep pretenses among our peers to a global scale. The next generation will be much more comfortable behind a screen where they can maintain an illusory persona than in real life. This is not taking into accounts the addictive nature of social media in general and how they employ research scientists to work on making their products more addictive.

RandallBrown 8y ago
It also lets you stay connected to people in ways that were impossible before. Chance meetings can become longtime friendships. Great memories that would have faded away no longer have to. For me, social media has mostly improved my life.
- Karunamon 8y ago
  The degree with which people compare social media to drugs (with all the baggage that entails) fucking astounds me sometimes. I would fully expect a serious reply to a comment like yours to be "that's just because you're addicted". It's a fad in some circles to hate on social media. And a particularly tiresome one, since it's doing nothing more than highlighting the pathological ways humans have always behaved, even in its absence. Availability heuristic.
  - strikelaserclaw 8y ago
    Humans have always fought in wars and killed one another but why are modern weapons so much more dangerous? Technology has the potential to enable the dark aspects of humanity to be more destructive than ever. Make no mistake, the HN crowd is not your average person, how social media applies to you does not reflect how it will apply to the majority in the world.
    - anticensor 8y ago
      Because modern weapons are designed to enable both sides to lose at the same time.
  - eeZah7Ux 8y ago
    There's plenty of scientific research on how various services mimic slot machines in stimulating reward mechanisms. Victims of addictive behaviors need help, not blame like "just because you're addicted".
- aoro 8y ago
  Of course, but the fact that these companies have to make a profit creates misaligned incentives.
- basilgohar 8y ago
  My argument would combine both of these sentiments, both parents and GPs, and say that social media has an amplifying effect. It'll amplify good intentioned and sincere efforts (reconnecting, sharing good news, etc.) as well as toxic ones (hatred, lies, and so on) just as all forms of media have done in the past as well. The same happened with the printing press as well as the emergence of the Internet itself.
- strikelaserclaw 8y ago
  I have a strong feeling that you were well past the age where social media could have had a strong influence on your psychological development when you had encountered social media for the first time. I am not saying there are no good things to social media, but knowing people, the dark patterns emerge much stronger than the positive ones.
  - RandallBrown 8y ago
    It's possible. I was 17 when I got Facebook, so older than most kids now, but not exactly a fully formed adult. Interestingly, in middle school, my friends and I sort of built our own social network. We all made websites on "Expage" and would link them to each other. It seemed like everyone in the school was doing it and I remember being pretty happy when a girl I liked gave me a shoutout on her website. I feel like we all learned a lot from that experience because inevitably, there was plenty of drama and hurt feelings. That's a big part of what got me into software development in the first place.
- avgDev 8y ago
  To be honest, it is really hard to know if social media did in fact improved your life. One could argue that opiates improve their life, in the short term at least. Therefore, in my opinion parent comment claimed that we will not know the effect of FB for another 10-20 years, and I agree. There is a lot more to us, than what we feel right now, our minds are very complicated. What if in 20 years you starting feeling depressed for no obvious reasons? FB and social media will definitely have a major impact on the human mind. I am not sure if I find value in being friends with people from high school as my mindset has shifted so much I cannot stand people that used to be my friends. Seeing their children and vacation pictures adds no value to my life, it serves as a distraction and makes me want to "keep up with the Joneses"
  - RandallBrown 8y ago
    I can understand that feeling of "keeping up with the Joneses" but for me it's easy to ignore. For awhile I'd look at Instagram and see all the cool stuff my friends were doing and be disappointed that I wasn't doing cool stuff too. Then I realized that my mindset was all wrong. I should be stoked for those people! I do cool stuff too, even if I'm not always doing it.
    - seppin 8y ago
      Exactly, if you use IG in an unhealthy way, don't be surprised if you feel worse after using it. Only follow your friends and people you actually care about. Then it's a feed of interesting thing about people you actually like. Problem solved.
      - brootstrap 8y ago
        Even then, some of my friends are rich buttholes who somehow manage to take many huge trips each year. International, snowboarding multiple times (denver, canada etc). It doesnt bother me much, but I sometimes feel bad for my wife. She seems everyone doing fun shit on instagram and she is stuck at home. We cant afford to drop 10k+ a year on trips. We get one or two a year which is enough for me. The thing is when we go on these trips, we just enjoy each other. We take pictures, but we arent fucking posing for instagram 20 times a day. We take pictures to remember the moment together, and to share them with our family in the future.
- perfmode 8y ago
  Sure. Maybe from your perspective, things are improved. But you can’t see how the world would be different without social media. Maybe you’d enjoy living in an alternate world instead. Honestly, connectedness might be overrated. Presence and locality could produce completely different and potentially better results.
- sizzle 8y ago
  I think social media is fine, but social media + sinister hyper-optimizing advertising tech is something else...
watwut 8y ago
It does not sounds like social media would cause that suicide. Just that the incoming suicide was not visible on them. A person committing suicide while acquaintances who barely know her are surprised is not a new phenomenon.

RandallBrown 8y ago

It also lets you stay connected to people in ways that were impossible before. Chance meetings can become longtime friendships. Great memories that would have faded away no longer have to. For me, social media has mostly improved my life.

Karunamon 8y ago
The degree with which people compare social media to drugs (with all the baggage that entails) fucking astounds me sometimes. I would fully expect a serious reply to a comment like yours to be "that's just because you're addicted". It's a fad in some circles to hate on social media. And a particularly tiresome one, since it's doing nothing more than highlighting the pathological ways humans have always behaved, even in its absence. Availability heuristic.
- strikelaserclaw 8y ago
  Humans have always fought in wars and killed one another but why are modern weapons so much more dangerous? Technology has the potential to enable the dark aspects of humanity to be more destructive than ever. Make no mistake, the HN crowd is not your average person, how social media applies to you does not reflect how it will apply to the majority in the world.
  - anticensor 8y ago
    Because modern weapons are designed to enable both sides to lose at the same time.
- eeZah7Ux 8y ago
  There's plenty of scientific research on how various services mimic slot machines in stimulating reward mechanisms. Victims of addictive behaviors need help, not blame like "just because you're addicted".
aoro 8y ago
Of course, but the fact that these companies have to make a profit creates misaligned incentives.
basilgohar 8y ago
My argument would combine both of these sentiments, both parents and GPs, and say that social media has an amplifying effect. It'll amplify good intentioned and sincere efforts (reconnecting, sharing good news, etc.) as well as toxic ones (hatred, lies, and so on) just as all forms of media have done in the past as well. The same happened with the printing press as well as the emergence of the Internet itself.
strikelaserclaw 8y ago
I have a strong feeling that you were well past the age where social media could have had a strong influence on your psychological development when you had encountered social media for the first time. I am not saying there are no good things to social media, but knowing people, the dark patterns emerge much stronger than the positive ones.
- RandallBrown 8y ago
  It's possible. I was 17 when I got Facebook, so older than most kids now, but not exactly a fully formed adult. Interestingly, in middle school, my friends and I sort of built our own social network. We all made websites on "Expage" and would link them to each other. It seemed like everyone in the school was doing it and I remember being pretty happy when a girl I liked gave me a shoutout on her website. I feel like we all learned a lot from that experience because inevitably, there was plenty of drama and hurt feelings. That's a big part of what got me into software development in the first place.
avgDev 8y ago
To be honest, it is really hard to know if social media did in fact improved your life. One could argue that opiates improve their life, in the short term at least. Therefore, in my opinion parent comment claimed that we will not know the effect of FB for another 10-20 years, and I agree. There is a lot more to us, than what we feel right now, our minds are very complicated. What if in 20 years you starting feeling depressed for no obvious reasons? FB and social media will definitely have a major impact on the human mind. I am not sure if I find value in being friends with people from high school as my mindset has shifted so much I cannot stand people that used to be my friends. Seeing their children and vacation pictures adds no value to my life, it serves as a distraction and makes me want to "keep up with the Joneses"
- RandallBrown 8y ago
  I can understand that feeling of "keeping up with the Joneses" but for me it's easy to ignore. For awhile I'd look at Instagram and see all the cool stuff my friends were doing and be disappointed that I wasn't doing cool stuff too. Then I realized that my mindset was all wrong. I should be stoked for those people! I do cool stuff too, even if I'm not always doing it.
  - seppin 8y ago
    Exactly, if you use IG in an unhealthy way, don't be surprised if you feel worse after using it. Only follow your friends and people you actually care about. Then it's a feed of interesting thing about people you actually like. Problem solved.
    - brootstrap 8y ago
      Even then, some of my friends are rich buttholes who somehow manage to take many huge trips each year. International, snowboarding multiple times (denver, canada etc). It doesnt bother me much, but I sometimes feel bad for my wife. She seems everyone doing fun shit on instagram and she is stuck at home. We cant afford to drop 10k+ a year on trips. We get one or two a year which is enough for me. The thing is when we go on these trips, we just enjoy each other. We take pictures, but we arent fucking posing for instagram 20 times a day. We take pictures to remember the moment together, and to share them with our family in the future.
perfmode 8y ago
Sure. Maybe from your perspective, things are improved. But you can’t see how the world would be different without social media. Maybe you’d enjoy living in an alternate world instead. Honestly, connectedness might be overrated. Presence and locality could produce completely different and potentially better results.
sizzle 8y ago
I think social media is fine, but social media + sinister hyper-optimizing advertising tech is something else...

watwut 8y ago

It does not sounds like social media would cause that suicide. Just that the incoming suicide was not visible on them. A person committing suicide while acquaintances who barely know her are surprised is not a new phenomenon.