5 ms·

I'm not entirely sure that tobacco is the worst product involved with this article. At this point Instagram seems to be doing more social harm than any form of

I'm not entirely sure that tobacco is the worst product involved with this article. At this point Instagram seems to be doing more social harm than any form of smoking could. I'm half joking, but to me this is all a freedom thing. If a person is capable of making their own decisions in this already pretty complicated world, the option to use (or to not use) tobacco seems like one they can handle.

kube-system 7y ago
Mental health is so much harder to measure. I have a feeling that social media is boiling the frog already. Like health crises of the past, we won't realize what we've done until it's too late. Except with mental health it'll be much easier to blame the victims instead of the institutions that caused the problem.
- vorpalhex 7y ago
  I think this is also a very individually subjective thing. I typically don't engage in social media, but sometimes I post pictures of food I've made to Instagram and about once a week I take a quick scroll through Facebook to keep in touch with relatives. And it's never seemingly done me any harm. I've had weeks when I've forgotten to do the above, and aside from a family member mentioning it, would have never noticed. But for some people, it certainly seems like Facebook causes them a whole bunch of harm. I don't think that's per se intrinsic to Facebook specifically (I have plenty of other things to blame them for, they're not off the hook). I think there are people who maybe due to anxiety or something else going on really struggle with social media and it causes them great panic. But if the issue is with the individual and it is highly subjective, then that suggests the solution isn't to change social media but to change the individual having troubles.
- Nasrudith 7y ago
  Blaming social media for mental health issues sounds deeply questionable no matter how many correlative studies. I doubt it is generally healthy but making it out to be the next tobbaco is absurd. There are far too many overlapping changes with potential negative effects, let alone the role of diagnosis and awareness affecting apparent numbers - a town without any access to diagnosis will look mentally healthy even if literally everyone has severe PTSD. Even if a correlation is taken as granted it is logically flawed as concluding kids eating their lunch alone are at an increased suicide risk - never mind shunning or bullying that is the shared cause of both!
  - kube-system 7y ago
    I'm not blaming social media for the problem, per se. Ultimately, it is the way people use the tool that will determine whether it is a pro or a con. The issue is that the general public (or, most anyone) does not fully grasp how their use of the tool will affect themselves and those they interact with.

kube-system 7y ago

Mental health is so much harder to measure. I have a feeling that social media is boiling the frog already. Like health crises of the past, we won't realize what we've done until it's too late. Except with mental health it'll be much easier to blame the victims instead of the institutions that caused the problem.

vorpalhex 7y ago
I think this is also a very individually subjective thing. I typically don't engage in social media, but sometimes I post pictures of food I've made to Instagram and about once a week I take a quick scroll through Facebook to keep in touch with relatives. And it's never seemingly done me any harm. I've had weeks when I've forgotten to do the above, and aside from a family member mentioning it, would have never noticed. But for some people, it certainly seems like Facebook causes them a whole bunch of harm. I don't think that's per se intrinsic to Facebook specifically (I have plenty of other things to blame them for, they're not off the hook). I think there are people who maybe due to anxiety or something else going on really struggle with social media and it causes them great panic. But if the issue is with the individual and it is highly subjective, then that suggests the solution isn't to change social media but to change the individual having troubles.
Nasrudith 7y ago
Blaming social media for mental health issues sounds deeply questionable no matter how many correlative studies. I doubt it is generally healthy but making it out to be the next tobbaco is absurd. There are far too many overlapping changes with potential negative effects, let alone the role of diagnosis and awareness affecting apparent numbers - a town without any access to diagnosis will look mentally healthy even if literally everyone has severe PTSD. Even if a correlation is taken as granted it is logically flawed as concluding kids eating their lunch alone are at an increased suicide risk - never mind shunning or bullying that is the shared cause of both!
- kube-system 7y ago
  I'm not blaming social media for the problem, per se. Ultimately, it is the way people use the tool that will determine whether it is a pro or a con. The issue is that the general public (or, most anyone) does not fully grasp how their use of the tool will affect themselves and those they interact with.