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I'm amused by the idea that developing brains in particular are being informed, rather than misinformed, by social media. Where did that come from in the age of

I'm amused by the idea that developing brains in particular are being informed, rather than misinformed, by social media. Where did that come from in the age of misinformation and filter bubbles? Adult brains are misinformed by these bubbles, teenage brains are even more vulnerable.

diag 4y ago
Teens are either far more informed about the world than their parents or completely oblivious to it. Not much in between.
- scifibestfi 4y ago
  Were you more informed as a teen than you are now as an adult? Or, more likely, when you look back at yourself as a teen do you cringe at what you believed?
  - diag 4y ago
    I personally wasn't, but I turned 17 during the 2008 financial crisis, so that jump started getting engaged with things. My sisters are way more aware of the world than I was at the time, for instance. But if you talk to some younger people, you'll find that things are different than even a decade ago for younger people.
Shared404 4y ago
When what you've been told in your life so far are things like being told your whole life that non-cishet people are "demons" and that racism is good actually, I think social media is the lesser of two evils. (Source: Raised in TX, knew people taught both of the things above and learned otherwise thanks to social media. For the record, my parents did _not_ teach either of the above)
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
__MatrixMan__ 4y ago
I don't think it's about correctness, just about whether they're allowed to coordinate as a bloc. Last year there was a week where the students at the nearby school stole all of the faucet knobs, towel dispensers, and even a mirror from the bathrooms. The following week they went about doing random acts of absurd "public service" (a TV was installed in the bathroom, poorly). Why? Some meme, no greater explanation. If you maintain an oppressive status quo, that kind of thing scares the bejeezus out of you.
- orwin 4y ago
  That kind of things is exactly the reason why kids should be allowed social media. And by the way, in the 2000s, before facebook arrived in my country, we created websites and chatroom spawning entire grades, entire school even. The rumor mill was worse than facebook. I've heard of one of those project (a real website, not just an IRC like in my highschool) was used by students of multiple schools, until it was "hacked" and the admin took it down. It was a bit discriminatory for kids who didn't had enough money to participate, or for groups of kids who weren't interested enough to get on it (i mean, it _was_ geeky) because there was an entry barrier. If we could've coordinate our stupidity amongst all the students, those years would have been even better, and for them too
  - __MatrixMan__ 4y ago
    I enabled a lot of filesharing between students who would otherwise never have met. Got suspended for it but whatever, that bit of community building way more important than the curriculum anyway. The only good thing I can see coming out of a social media ban is that hacking will be cool again (much like it was when you had to be somewhat savvy to customize your myspace page). Learning that it's not you vs your peers, but you and your peers vs the status quo, is an important part of teenagerhood. Attempting to keep kids from being kids is probably a pretty reliable way to remove any ambiguity about who their enemy is.

diag 4y ago

Teens are either far more informed about the world than their parents or completely oblivious to it. Not much in between.

scifibestfi 4y ago
Were you more informed as a teen than you are now as an adult? Or, more likely, when you look back at yourself as a teen do you cringe at what you believed?
- diag 4y ago
  I personally wasn't, but I turned 17 during the 2008 financial crisis, so that jump started getting engaged with things. My sisters are way more aware of the world than I was at the time, for instance. But if you talk to some younger people, you'll find that things are different than even a decade ago for younger people.

Shared404 4y ago

When what you've been told in your life so far are things like being told your whole life that non-cishet people are "demons" and that racism is good actually, I think social media is the lesser of two evils. (Source: Raised in TX, knew people taught both of the things above and learned otherwise thanks to social media. For the record, my parents did _not_ teach either of the above)

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

__MatrixMan__ 4y ago

I don't think it's about correctness, just about whether they're allowed to coordinate as a bloc. Last year there was a week where the students at the nearby school stole all of the faucet knobs, towel dispensers, and even a mirror from the bathrooms. The following week they went about doing random acts of absurd "public service" (a TV was installed in the bathroom, poorly). Why? Some meme, no greater explanation. If you maintain an oppressive status quo, that kind of thing scares the bejeezus out of you.

orwin 4y ago
That kind of things is exactly the reason why kids should be allowed social media. And by the way, in the 2000s, before facebook arrived in my country, we created websites and chatroom spawning entire grades, entire school even. The rumor mill was worse than facebook. I've heard of one of those project (a real website, not just an IRC like in my highschool) was used by students of multiple schools, until it was "hacked" and the admin took it down. It was a bit discriminatory for kids who didn't had enough money to participate, or for groups of kids who weren't interested enough to get on it (i mean, it _was_ geeky) because there was an entry barrier. If we could've coordinate our stupidity amongst all the students, those years would have been even better, and for them too
- __MatrixMan__ 4y ago
  I enabled a lot of filesharing between students who would otherwise never have met. Got suspended for it but whatever, that bit of community building way more important than the curriculum anyway. The only good thing I can see coming out of a social media ban is that hacking will be cool again (much like it was when you had to be somewhat savvy to customize your myspace page). Learning that it's not you vs your peers, but you and your peers vs the status quo, is an important part of teenagerhood. Attempting to keep kids from being kids is probably a pretty reliable way to remove any ambiguity about who their enemy is.