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I drink one glass of fine red wine once a week while having a nice conversation with a good friend. On other occasions I have a shot of strong brandy before ste

I drink one glass of fine red wine once a week while having a nice conversation with a good friend. On other occasions I have a shot of strong brandy before stepping out on a cold winter evening. I don't get how alcohol is such a specter of misery for some people.

s_y_n_t_a_x 7y ago
You're comparing social media usage to alcoholism? One is physically dependent, one is a fucking website. Ignore posts from people that cause you stress, or just don't scroll through the website. I keep mine to keep in touch with people, but I don't view other people's stupid thoughts. Of course that's not going to be fun.
- tareqak 7y ago
  Both can be addictions whose severity range can range from inconsequential, to minor, to debilitating, to life-ending.
- whytaka 7y ago
  Almost everyone has uncontrollable mental patterns. Some are more self destructive than others.
- GcVmvNhBsU 7y ago
  One is a physical dependence, the other is a psychological dependence. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3480687/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3480687/
  - s_y_n_t_a_x 7y ago
    Well now we are getting into regulating dopamine responses, which is too broad to apply to a single website which is probably why the article doesn't have a source. This article is just a hit piece. This is the trash on HN these days.
graeme 7y ago
Fair point, but the analogy is off: the feeds aren’t the same. Most people don’t get too anxious about relatives babies and pets. It’s like one person has juice and the other has brandy.
- johnchristopher 7y ago
  You know what's off ? GP's comment about how he doesn't get why and how Facebook's usage is problematic for some. On HN. Where we have been talking about every aspects of Facebook every 6th submissions for years.
varenc 7y ago
Similarly: Alcohol quitters report more life satisfaction, less depression, and anxiety
- jariel 7y ago
  Actually, those who drink in moderation are more successful and happy than those who quit.
  - arrow7000 7y ago
    So what you're saying is people without an addiction are happier than people who are addicted? Shocking stuff
    - jariel 7y ago
      What I'm saying is that the analogy of alcohol is not helpful. Social Networking is not inherently toxic, and quitting many things: sugar, television, even meat, might have the similar effects for some small group of people. In fact, the entire thread is based on three levels of indirection of misinformation: the Bloomberg article misquoted the paper, and the short-summary referencing Bloomberg made it worse. Here is the summary of the findings [1]: "We find that deactivating Facebook for the four weeks before the 2018 US midterm election (i) reduced online activity while increasing offline activities such as watching TV alone and socializing with family and friends; (ii) reduced both factual news knowledge and political polarization; (iii) increased subjective well-being; and (iv) caused a large persistent reduction in post-experiment Facebook use" So that's a little bit more information now isn't it? And completely conflates the Facebook/wellbeing issue with a host of other things. Most poignantly, stopping Facebook usage reduced the amount of factual knowledge a person had access too. So maybe that's not so good? Maybe by 'removing Facebook' people are simply a little bit more removed from the issues of the day (like elections) many of which can be contentious. So 'ignorance is bliss' is the result of the study? Or is it really something materially related to Social Networking. I think we'll need to do some more studying to find out. [] http://web.stanford.edu/~gentzkow/research/facebook.pdf http://web.stanford.edu/~gentzkow/research/facebook.pdf
    - 7y ago
sachdevap 7y ago
I can't upvote a second time, but this was a very good use of analogy. I am going to save this for later.
Numberwang 7y ago
Exactly. I started out doing this and now I drink a bottle every night. No problem.
Vysero 7y ago
When you quit Facebook do you puke for 5 days straight and shake violently all the while?

s_y_n_t_a_x 7y ago

You're comparing social media usage to alcoholism? One is physically dependent, one is a fucking website. Ignore posts from people that cause you stress, or just don't scroll through the website. I keep mine to keep in touch with people, but I don't view other people's stupid thoughts. Of course that's not going to be fun.

tareqak 7y ago
Both can be addictions whose severity range can range from inconsequential, to minor, to debilitating, to life-ending.
whytaka 7y ago
Almost everyone has uncontrollable mental patterns. Some are more self destructive than others.
GcVmvNhBsU 7y ago
One is a physical dependence, the other is a psychological dependence. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3480687/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3480687/
- s_y_n_t_a_x 7y ago
  Well now we are getting into regulating dopamine responses, which is too broad to apply to a single website which is probably why the article doesn't have a source. This article is just a hit piece. This is the trash on HN these days.

graeme 7y ago

Fair point, but the analogy is off: the feeds aren’t the same. Most people don’t get too anxious about relatives babies and pets. It’s like one person has juice and the other has brandy.

johnchristopher 7y ago
You know what's off ? GP's comment about how he doesn't get why and how Facebook's usage is problematic for some. On HN. Where we have been talking about every aspects of Facebook every 6th submissions for years.

varenc 7y ago

Similarly: Alcohol quitters report more life satisfaction, less depression, and anxiety

jariel 7y ago
Actually, those who drink in moderation are more successful and happy than those who quit.
- arrow7000 7y ago
  So what you're saying is people without an addiction are happier than people who are addicted? Shocking stuff
  - jariel 7y ago
    What I'm saying is that the analogy of alcohol is not helpful. Social Networking is not inherently toxic, and quitting many things: sugar, television, even meat, might have the similar effects for some small group of people. In fact, the entire thread is based on three levels of indirection of misinformation: the Bloomberg article misquoted the paper, and the short-summary referencing Bloomberg made it worse. Here is the summary of the findings [1]: "We find that deactivating Facebook for the four weeks before the 2018 US midterm election (i) reduced online activity while increasing offline activities such as watching TV alone and socializing with family and friends; (ii) reduced both factual news knowledge and political polarization; (iii) increased subjective well-being; and (iv) caused a large persistent reduction in post-experiment Facebook use" So that's a little bit more information now isn't it? And completely conflates the Facebook/wellbeing issue with a host of other things. Most poignantly, stopping Facebook usage reduced the amount of factual knowledge a person had access too. So maybe that's not so good? Maybe by 'removing Facebook' people are simply a little bit more removed from the issues of the day (like elections) many of which can be contentious. So 'ignorance is bliss' is the result of the study? Or is it really something materially related to Social Networking. I think we'll need to do some more studying to find out. [] http://web.stanford.edu/~gentzkow/research/facebook.pdf http://web.stanford.edu/~gentzkow/research/facebook.pdf
  - 7y ago

sachdevap 7y ago

I can't upvote a second time, but this was a very good use of analogy. I am going to save this for later.

Numberwang 7y ago

Exactly. I started out doing this and now I drink a bottle every night. No problem.

Vysero 7y ago

When you quit Facebook do you puke for 5 days straight and shake violently all the while?