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Social media is fast food. If you eat it all the time it makes you feel awful and will destroy your mental and physical health. But its cheap, easy to get and t

by 12xo 6y ago

Social media is fast food. If you eat it all the time it makes you feel awful and will destroy your mental and physical health. But its cheap, easy to get and tastes really good... So stupid people love it.

rufusroflpunch 6y ago
So true. I realized recently that social media makes me think that I hate people that I actually like! You get a quick hit of superiority, but it's the problem the most effective tool I've ever seen to divide us.
- satyrnein 6y ago
  Did you get a quick hit of superiority when you agreed that "those" people are stupid, or did you consider that divisive?
  - zests 6y ago
    This comment chain is mildly toxic and (ironically) proves that HN is similar to social media. Any political post seems to have the same divisiveness that traditional social media has. That being said, HN does have logical and helpful technical discussion that does not resemble the kind of social media that people are talking about when they say "social media". The incidence of toxicity is much lower. That is why I believe HN is social media yet much healthier than, for example, facebook.
  - Stupulous 6y ago
    From this thread it would appear that one is either a hypocrite for complaining about something they participate in or arrogant for complaining about something they don't. Here, both. It seems like a needless exercise to classify which type each person is. We can just take both cases with a grain of salt, address their points skeptically, and move on from doing psych evals on a couple sentences about something else.
    - satyrnein 6y ago
      My comment was probably too snarky, but do we not have a duty to at least gently push back against our in-group labeling the out-group as stupid?
      - Stupulous 6y ago
        That's a good point, and I agree. But I do think it would be more pragmatic to justify why the outgroup isn't stupid than it is to go after the people who are saying so. The anger response you'll get for saying someone is arrogant probably won't get the open-mindedness you'll need to persuade someone to act differently. Even just pointing out that the word being said is 'stupid', but the actual in-group/out-group divide is technical literacy or systems-awareness. And really just in the frame of social media. Perhaps there should be a word to describe the local ignorance that everyone engages in when they are turned off and relaxing.
kiplkipl 6y ago
You're on social media
- lizardking 6y ago
  And?
  - kiplkipl 6y ago
    Then it seems the poster does find some value in social media. I'm saying that HN is social media - descended from Reddit, in fact - to point out that the popular stance of Facebook being inherently evil seems to forgive this website for doing the same thing. This kind of scare has happened with all media: games, TV, film, fiction books. If there's a difference between the fast-food social media and this website, I'd like to hear what it is.
    - 12xo 6y ago
      Well to start forums are a self selecting group of like minded individuals. To be an active member usually requires thought and care, intelligence and skills such as reading comprehension and critical thinking... Oh, and the whole system isnt built to game your senses in order to mine minute data points about you that is then sold to companies who then masquerade their content as ads all while pretending that they're doing good work for the world... But honestly, if you cant tell the difference between Social Media and a forum, maybe you should step away from the net all together. Read some books, learn a hobby. Go outside. Make some real life friends... For it seems as if you too close to the forest to know that its made up of trees. Its just like fast food. If its all you eat, you have no idea what real food tastes and feels like...
      - kiplkipl 6y ago
        Beyond ads, everything I interact with on social media is through choice. I'm aware of how targeted advertising works: it reminds me of seeing toy adverts between children's TV shows. Thank you for the life coaching.
adpirz 6y ago
Remove "stupid", and this is otherwise accurate.
- acid__ 6y ago
  Yeah, that one word put a distastefully elitist spin on an otherwise excellent comment
- asdff 6y ago
  When I slip down the rabbit hole every now and then and end up deep in a multi hour social media/internet binge when I could be doing something else entertaining as well as constructive, I am definitely being a stupid person.
  - adpirz 6y ago
    "stupid people" = stupidity endemic to the people "people acting stupidly" = people in temporary states of stupidity

by 12xo 6y ago

rufusroflpunch 6y ago

So true. I realized recently that social media makes me think that I hate people that I actually like! You get a quick hit of superiority, but it's the problem the most effective tool I've ever seen to divide us.

satyrnein 6y ago
Did you get a quick hit of superiority when you agreed that "those" people are stupid, or did you consider that divisive?
- zests 6y ago
  This comment chain is mildly toxic and (ironically) proves that HN is similar to social media. Any political post seems to have the same divisiveness that traditional social media has. That being said, HN does have logical and helpful technical discussion that does not resemble the kind of social media that people are talking about when they say "social media". The incidence of toxicity is much lower. That is why I believe HN is social media yet much healthier than, for example, facebook.
- Stupulous 6y ago
  From this thread it would appear that one is either a hypocrite for complaining about something they participate in or arrogant for complaining about something they don't. Here, both. It seems like a needless exercise to classify which type each person is. We can just take both cases with a grain of salt, address their points skeptically, and move on from doing psych evals on a couple sentences about something else.
  - satyrnein 6y ago
    My comment was probably too snarky, but do we not have a duty to at least gently push back against our in-group labeling the out-group as stupid?
    - Stupulous 6y ago
      That's a good point, and I agree. But I do think it would be more pragmatic to justify why the outgroup isn't stupid than it is to go after the people who are saying so. The anger response you'll get for saying someone is arrogant probably won't get the open-mindedness you'll need to persuade someone to act differently. Even just pointing out that the word being said is 'stupid', but the actual in-group/out-group divide is technical literacy or systems-awareness. And really just in the frame of social media. Perhaps there should be a word to describe the local ignorance that everyone engages in when they are turned off and relaxing.

kiplkipl 6y ago

You're on social media

lizardking 6y ago
And?
- kiplkipl 6y ago
  Then it seems the poster does find some value in social media. I'm saying that HN is social media - descended from Reddit, in fact - to point out that the popular stance of Facebook being inherently evil seems to forgive this website for doing the same thing. This kind of scare has happened with all media: games, TV, film, fiction books. If there's a difference between the fast-food social media and this website, I'd like to hear what it is.
  - 12xo 6y ago
    Well to start forums are a self selecting group of like minded individuals. To be an active member usually requires thought and care, intelligence and skills such as reading comprehension and critical thinking... Oh, and the whole system isnt built to game your senses in order to mine minute data points about you that is then sold to companies who then masquerade their content as ads all while pretending that they're doing good work for the world... But honestly, if you cant tell the difference between Social Media and a forum, maybe you should step away from the net all together. Read some books, learn a hobby. Go outside. Make some real life friends... For it seems as if you too close to the forest to know that its made up of trees. Its just like fast food. If its all you eat, you have no idea what real food tastes and feels like...
    - kiplkipl 6y ago
      Beyond ads, everything I interact with on social media is through choice. I'm aware of how targeted advertising works: it reminds me of seeing toy adverts between children's TV shows. Thank you for the life coaching.

adpirz 6y ago

Remove "stupid", and this is otherwise accurate.

acid__ 6y ago
Yeah, that one word put a distastefully elitist spin on an otherwise excellent comment
asdff 6y ago
When I slip down the rabbit hole every now and then and end up deep in a multi hour social media/internet binge when I could be doing something else entertaining as well as constructive, I am definitely being a stupid person.
- adpirz 6y ago
  "stupid people" = stupidity endemic to the people "people acting stupidly" = people in temporary states of stupidity