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Has there been any further detail on what about social media is linked to depression? For instance, with Facebook, is it more because of the ads? Or is it mor

Has there been any further detail on what about social media is linked to depression? For instance, with Facebook, is it more because of the ads? Or is it more because of the engagement algorithms? Or, would it happen even if Facebook were just a reverse-chronological feed, populated only by your chosen friends, with zero advertising?

sneak 5y ago
> Or, would it happen even if Facebook were just a reverse-chronological feed, populated only by your chosen friends, with zero advertising? We never heard about RSS feed readers causing depression, except when Google cancelled the most popular one. It's possible that having all of your friendship interactions being quietly censored and reorganized to financially benefit a giant multinational is actually the depressing thing. Delete your Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp accounts. If you think these systems are bad (and you're right if you do), stop donating content to them to make them more attractive to your friends and family. It's rude and antisocial to push your loved ones toward these abusive systems.
reilly3000 5y ago
Those are good theories, but there are also some larger questions, like can humans stomach being part of a non-local mega tribe? Can they accept that there is no possible way to feel ‘finished’ when there is an infinite amount of content? Does superficial overconsumption of content leave the brain depleted yet unsated? Hacker News is ad-free and not particularly aggressive with engagement-optimizated sorting, yet I often walk away from HN sessions with mild depression. Also inspiration, defeat, numbness, laughter, and a sense of subtle superiority. My point is that digital connection, content, and curation is completely novel to ours or any species. Facebook’s use of the technology may be greedy and or detrimental, but the entire paradigm is without precedent.
skhr0680 5y ago
It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking everyone else’s life is perfect because they are always posting photos of the best moments
- longhairedhippy 5y ago
  I was going to say this myself and it's the exact reason I left all social media platforms. So many times I came away feeling bad about myself, I can do that plenty on my own, I don't need digital help.
- Permit 5y ago
  This is often repeated and I think it's probably true, but I wonder if there's even more to it than this. Presumably there is some subset of the population that *really is* having much better lives than another subset of the population. I don't think anyone here would deny this, but it must feel different to know this fact in an abstract sense than it is to actually see it. The topic of meritocracy comes up here from time to time. I don't think such a society could exist, but if it did, wouldn't it be an absolute nightmare for the bottom 20% (50%?) of the population?
PragmaticPulp 5y ago
It appears that screen time in general is linked to depression, with or without Facebook. Example study: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5574844/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5574844/ Binging TV shows, binging Facebook, and binging internet usage in general are all highly correlated with depression. With correlation, it's important to remember that causation doesn't necessarily flow in only one direction. It's likely that depression causes increased sedentary activity, including Facebook usage. It's also entirely possible that social media usage encourages depression by displacing more productive, healthier activities.
- 29athrowaway 5y ago
  Is excessive screen time the cause, the symptom, or it is unrelated? Some people can become addicted to food, shopping, television, etc. Does that mean that each person that eats food will become addicted? No. People who become addicted are often people with issues in their dopamine or endorphine systems, and a common way to end up that way is by having a difficult childhood.
6gvONxR4sf7o 5y ago
> "Basically all of the things that would contribute to these platforms being healthier for people to use, which is basically spend less time, don't follow strangers, don't spend time passively scrolling through this random feed that's being suggested to you," Hunt says. "That completely undermines their whole business model." From the article. Sorta gets at what you're asking.

sneak 5y ago

> Or, would it happen even if Facebook were just a reverse-chronological feed, populated only by your chosen friends, with zero advertising? We never heard about RSS feed readers causing depression, except when Google cancelled the most popular one. It's possible that having all of your friendship interactions being quietly censored and reorganized to financially benefit a giant multinational is actually the depressing thing. Delete your Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp accounts. If you think these systems are bad (and you're right if you do), stop donating content to them to make them more attractive to your friends and family. It's rude and antisocial to push your loved ones toward these abusive systems.

reilly3000 5y ago

Those are good theories, but there are also some larger questions, like can humans stomach being part of a non-local mega tribe? Can they accept that there is no possible way to feel ‘finished’ when there is an infinite amount of content? Does superficial overconsumption of content leave the brain depleted yet unsated? Hacker News is ad-free and not particularly aggressive with engagement-optimizated sorting, yet I often walk away from HN sessions with mild depression. Also inspiration, defeat, numbness, laughter, and a sense of subtle superiority. My point is that digital connection, content, and curation is completely novel to ours or any species. Facebook’s use of the technology may be greedy and or detrimental, but the entire paradigm is without precedent.

skhr0680 5y ago

It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking everyone else’s life is perfect because they are always posting photos of the best moments

longhairedhippy 5y ago
I was going to say this myself and it's the exact reason I left all social media platforms. So many times I came away feeling bad about myself, I can do that plenty on my own, I don't need digital help.
Permit 5y ago
This is often repeated and I think it's probably true, but I wonder if there's even more to it than this. Presumably there is some subset of the population that *really is* having much better lives than another subset of the population. I don't think anyone here would deny this, but it must feel different to know this fact in an abstract sense than it is to actually see it. The topic of meritocracy comes up here from time to time. I don't think such a society could exist, but if it did, wouldn't it be an absolute nightmare for the bottom 20% (50%?) of the population?

PragmaticPulp 5y ago

It appears that screen time in general is linked to depression, with or without Facebook. Example study: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5574844/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5574844/ Binging TV shows, binging Facebook, and binging internet usage in general are all highly correlated with depression. With correlation, it's important to remember that causation doesn't necessarily flow in only one direction. It's likely that depression causes increased sedentary activity, including Facebook usage. It's also entirely possible that social media usage encourages depression by displacing more productive, healthier activities.

29athrowaway 5y ago
Is excessive screen time the cause, the symptom, or it is unrelated? Some people can become addicted to food, shopping, television, etc. Does that mean that each person that eats food will become addicted? No. People who become addicted are often people with issues in their dopamine or endorphine systems, and a common way to end up that way is by having a difficult childhood.

6gvONxR4sf7o 5y ago

> "Basically all of the things that would contribute to these platforms being healthier for people to use, which is basically spend less time, don't follow strangers, don't spend time passively scrolling through this random feed that's being suggested to you," Hunt says. "That completely undermines their whole business model." From the article. Sorta gets at what you're asking.