4 ms·

Smoking is scientifically proven to be bad for you. Organizing the family Christmas event is not. Comparing FB to smoking is beyond pale - these bits of HN ze

• Barrin92 6y ago
  Organizing the family Christmas isn't, but that doesn't require Facebook. There's enough easily accessible free digital tools for that. General social media use however actually is scientifically associated with quite a lot of negative effects. From increased self-harm in teenage girls (and to a lesser but significant degree boys), to anxiety disorders, bullying, and well we don't need a phd to see the negative effects of having genocides arranged on the website. I don't really see what's anti-intellectual about just looking at the evidence of how these industries manipulate human behaviour, spread misinformation, and cause psychological harm. I think what's deeply anti-intellectual is talking down the degree to which these digital services have changed and intruded into our lives because "it's just an app on your phone bro" which has been the prevailing attitude, that is only slowly changing. I actually suspect that just like smoking, or drinking, we're going to look at how we interacted with online media in the early 21st century with a lot of dismay in the not so far future.