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I don’t think limiting information is the solution at least among older teens/young adults. I think people have a right to know the world’s ugly, harsh facts a

I don’t think limiting information is the solution at least among older teens/young adults. I think people have a right to know the world’s ugly, harsh facts and crazy opinions. Not knowing something doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. I think the solution is to remind them of all the good facts and reasonable opinions. Warn about particularly bad stuff like gore (and do block this content from children until they reach young adulthood). And most importantly, teach them how to better manage their thoughts and emotions (techniques from therapy), so they can learn about bad stuff without being hurt or biased from it. Then again, this take is from my own ignorance and personality. Maybe I haven’t been exposed to the real ugly stuff, or maybe I’m better at not reacting to stuff emotionally than others. But the main issue with restricting harsh information is, not knowing something doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.

tgv 5y ago
> I think people have a right to know the world’s ugly, harsh facts and crazy opinions. Newspapers bring you that, once per day. And social media brings a lot more than that.
- armchairhacker 5y ago
  News brings you the ugly but it doesn’t teach you how to cope. Actually it does the exact opposite and tries to elicit emotional response. The news also covers the negative world events much more than the positive ones. People need to learn that the news is biased and uses fallacies like the slippery slope to make harsh reality sound even harsh than it actually is.
erddfre3423 5y ago
I don't think the problem is necessarily knowing what kind of place the world is, but being constantly reminded by it. I believe social media would be harmful even if it was full of happy news, simply because it provides constant distraction which isn't natural for our brains. Also, often young people compare their lives to unrealistic images portrayed through social media influencers, and get depressed when their life seems worse. So even "positive" content can be a source of depression.
trinovantes 5y ago
We already see tobacco ads from the 50s as barbaric (e.g. take a smoke to relief the pain of pregnancy) so it's not inconceivable that we may one day see unregulated social media of today the same

tgv 5y ago

> I think people have a right to know the world’s ugly, harsh facts and crazy opinions. Newspapers bring you that, once per day. And social media brings a lot more than that.

armchairhacker 5y ago
News brings you the ugly but it doesn’t teach you how to cope. Actually it does the exact opposite and tries to elicit emotional response. The news also covers the negative world events much more than the positive ones. People need to learn that the news is biased and uses fallacies like the slippery slope to make harsh reality sound even harsh than it actually is.

erddfre3423 5y ago

I don't think the problem is necessarily knowing what kind of place the world is, but being constantly reminded by it. I believe social media would be harmful even if it was full of happy news, simply because it provides constant distraction which isn't natural for our brains. Also, often young people compare their lives to unrealistic images portrayed through social media influencers, and get depressed when their life seems worse. So even "positive" content can be a source of depression.

trinovantes 5y ago

We already see tobacco ads from the 50s as barbaric (e.g. take a smoke to relief the pain of pregnancy) so it's not inconceivable that we may one day see unregulated social media of today the same