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This is heartening news. We are finally approaching the moment where addictive social media is handled with the same seriousness with which big tobacco was trea

This is heartening news. We are finally approaching the moment where addictive social media is handled with the same seriousness with which big tobacco was treated.

offtop5 6y ago
I doubt it, much of this is just going to be finger waving. Case and poin the FTC sued the Match Group for fraud, but I can guarantee you nothing's going to come of it. If you could pay a $5 million fine after increasing your valuation by billions, you'd do that too. If anything I think there's a massive need for individuals to regulate their own social media. Since I know these things can actively harm me, I don't use social media or online dating. But I also wouldn't pass laws stopping people from using this stuff. It's like eating junk food, sure the world would be a better place if no one ate McDonald's, but everyone has a right to eat as many big Macs they want to
devmunchies 6y ago
It's funny to think that people might look back at how much time and attention people from 2010 to 2020 spent on their device and think how backwards we were. Like how "dumb" past generations were for putting lead in gasoline.
- cactus2093 6y ago
  Seems more likely to me that all the overreaction to social media will be what is viewed as silly and old-fashioned. History is absolutely full of very similar examples of people freaking out over how new mediums like novels or bicycles or radio or rock music or whatever are a waste of time and/or are destroying the children's minds.
  - phatfish 6y ago
    There are also examples of when ignoring addictive behaviour -- or just pretending there isn't a problem -- leads to disaster. The world wide web was the new medium, social media is the attention grabbing (and addictive for some) hook that enables a couple of large corporations to charge more for advertising impressions.
  - jetru 6y ago
    Right, history is also full of examples where enough reaction was non-existant and where this precise argument was used to allay concerns. History is probably also full of examples where it made sense. History is full of all kinds of examples.
- jessaustin 6y ago
  In future, the caricature of our time will be people blindly stumbling around while pressing small hunks of metal and plastic against their faces.
laurent92 6y ago
I wonder which is worst for health. I’d say tobacco, but social media probably causes more obesity than Coca Cola itself. Also causes people to procrastinate instead of engaging in intellectual activities, especially school or work, so the cost to society might be enormous. I wonder whether this is quantifiable, but it is definitely visible. But if it slows careers, we also have to reckon it creates careers and side-jobs (« Instagram model », « journalist », ...).
- jrockway 6y ago
  > Also causes people to procrastinate instead of engaging in intellectual activities, especially school or work, so the cost to society might be enormous. I doubt it. Before social media, people were playing solitaire on their computers. Before that, they were standing around the water cooler gossiping. Slacking off and procrastinating are nothing new.
  - phatfish 6y ago
    The distraction aspect is due primarily to having so much information available instantly. That is a result of the internet, but smartphones supercharged it as they add constant availability to the mix. The issue with social media is that it is specifically designed to distract and grab attention, and the information they use is mostly gossip crowd sourced by their users to sell advertising against. There needs to be some real education about how to use social media responsibly during schooling, and the companies also need some strong regulation to stop the exploitation. The harm done is similar to gambling in my view and needs to be regulated in a similar way. Some people have the self restraint to log off and focus on real life, for others it is an addiction.
  - wil421 6y ago
    Did the water cooler company hire people to see if they could keep people at the water cooler longer? Did solitaire copy what’s in your copy/paste pad and secretly send it to Microsoft? Did solitaire buy and kill FreeCell to prevent its popularity from surpassing it’s own?

This is heartening news. We are finally approaching the moment where addictive social media is handled with the same seriousness with which big tobacco was treated.

offtop5 6y ago

I doubt it, much of this is just going to be finger waving. Case and poin the FTC sued the Match Group for fraud, but I can guarantee you nothing's going to come of it. If you could pay a $5 million fine after increasing your valuation by billions, you'd do that too. If anything I think there's a massive need for individuals to regulate their own social media. Since I know these things can actively harm me, I don't use social media or online dating. But I also wouldn't pass laws stopping people from using this stuff. It's like eating junk food, sure the world would be a better place if no one ate McDonald's, but everyone has a right to eat as many big Macs they want to

devmunchies 6y ago

It's funny to think that people might look back at how much time and attention people from 2010 to 2020 spent on their device and think how backwards we were. Like how "dumb" past generations were for putting lead in gasoline.

cactus2093 6y ago
Seems more likely to me that all the overreaction to social media will be what is viewed as silly and old-fashioned. History is absolutely full of very similar examples of people freaking out over how new mediums like novels or bicycles or radio or rock music or whatever are a waste of time and/or are destroying the children's minds.
- phatfish 6y ago
  There are also examples of when ignoring addictive behaviour -- or just pretending there isn't a problem -- leads to disaster. The world wide web was the new medium, social media is the attention grabbing (and addictive for some) hook that enables a couple of large corporations to charge more for advertising impressions.
- jetru 6y ago
  Right, history is also full of examples where enough reaction was non-existant and where this precise argument was used to allay concerns. History is probably also full of examples where it made sense. History is full of all kinds of examples.
jessaustin 6y ago
In future, the caricature of our time will be people blindly stumbling around while pressing small hunks of metal and plastic against their faces.

laurent92 6y ago

I wonder which is worst for health. I’d say tobacco, but social media probably causes more obesity than Coca Cola itself. Also causes people to procrastinate instead of engaging in intellectual activities, especially school or work, so the cost to society might be enormous. I wonder whether this is quantifiable, but it is definitely visible. But if it slows careers, we also have to reckon it creates careers and side-jobs (« Instagram model », « journalist », ...).

jrockway 6y ago
> Also causes people to procrastinate instead of engaging in intellectual activities, especially school or work, so the cost to society might be enormous. I doubt it. Before social media, people were playing solitaire on their computers. Before that, they were standing around the water cooler gossiping. Slacking off and procrastinating are nothing new.
- phatfish 6y ago
  The distraction aspect is due primarily to having so much information available instantly. That is a result of the internet, but smartphones supercharged it as they add constant availability to the mix. The issue with social media is that it is specifically designed to distract and grab attention, and the information they use is mostly gossip crowd sourced by their users to sell advertising against. There needs to be some real education about how to use social media responsibly during schooling, and the companies also need some strong regulation to stop the exploitation. The harm done is similar to gambling in my view and needs to be regulated in a similar way. Some people have the self restraint to log off and focus on real life, for others it is an addiction.
- wil421 6y ago
  Did the water cooler company hire people to see if they could keep people at the water cooler longer? Did solitaire copy what’s in your copy/paste pad and secretly send it to Microsoft? Did solitaire buy and kill FreeCell to prevent its popularity from surpassing it’s own?