4 ms·

Why "unfortunately"? I am quite happy that teenagers' access to information is not being banned.

tristor 4y ago
Because I have a teenage stepdaughter, and I would like to make her life easier, not harder, and social media seems to be a net negative. It's unfortunately so integrated into the lives of teenagers they can't get away from it. I learned the hard way that social media was also bad for me, and I no longer use it (if you don't count HN and web-forums as social media). I also don't like restricting access to information in the general sense, but social media isn't "information" in anything but the broadest sense of terms.
- hax0ron3 4y ago
  Social media absolutely is information. For example, I can tell you from experience that it is very hard to really learn about another country if you are not living there unless you go read what the people of that country are saying on social media. What journalists write about the country is usually a very narrow view in comparison to all the information that becomes available to you if you read what people who live there are writing on social media. Do you think that maybe you could make your stepdaughter's life easier not by restricting her access to information, but by teaching her how to interact with that information in a way that is healthy?
  - tristor 4y ago
    I'd argue it's hard to learn about another country without personally visiting it. To wit, I've made it a point to take my family to other countries, for us to learn other languages, and to get to experience different lifestyles around the world. There are a lot of things that my wife and I do to try to help my stepdaughter interact with information in healthy ways, but that's also easier said than done. To a large degree, the issues with social media have to do with the facade people put up and the underlying social interactions with her peer group, which are hard things to help a teenager address because parents are not directly involved in her peer group. You can only do so much, and at some point as a teenager, your child needs to find their own way. Putting up guard rails ("restricting information") is one way to help them navigate these nuances of life.
    - hax0ron3 4y ago
      Thanks for the thoughtful reply. I would guess that maybe the peer group is the core of the problem. Probably even most, though of course far from all, teenagers realize that issues they might have with people on social media whom they do not know in real life can be resolved by simply not interacting with them. Maybe social media just makes it easy for the peer group to be present in a person's life almost 18 hours a day instead of as in the past, just a few hours a day usually.
      - tristor 4y ago
        I think that's a big piece of it. I think another part of it is that even /if you/ do not use social media, it doesn't meant others won't post you (including pictures/video) on social media and talk about you. In the past, you might get gossip about who went to what event/party/group activity and who didn't, or what they did, but there wasn't a constant stream of photos and video of said acts and occurrences followed by difficult to impossible to monitor comments made semi-anonymously and possibly exposed without your consent to strangers and third-parties. It's not just that it can be challenging to deal with your peer group being present in your life constantly, it's that you have little recourse or ways to escape without intentionally withdrawing from your social peer group, especially as a teenager where social media is so embedded in their very existence. As an adult, it's easier, we can be much more intentional about our relationships and lifestyle, but teenagers exist in a microcosm of the larger society, with all of the same problems but without the same recourses.

Because I have a teenage stepdaughter, and I would like to make her life easier, not harder, and social media seems to be a net negative. It's unfortunately so integrated into the lives of teenagers they can't get away from it. I learned the hard way that social media was also bad for me, and I no longer use it (if you don't count HN and web-forums as social media). I also don't like restricting access to information in the general sense, but social media isn't "information" in anything but the broadest sense of terms.

hax0ron3 4y ago
Social media absolutely is information. For example, I can tell you from experience that it is very hard to really learn about another country if you are not living there unless you go read what the people of that country are saying on social media. What journalists write about the country is usually a very narrow view in comparison to all the information that becomes available to you if you read what people who live there are writing on social media. Do you think that maybe you could make your stepdaughter's life easier not by restricting her access to information, but by teaching her how to interact with that information in a way that is healthy?
- tristor 4y ago
  I'd argue it's hard to learn about another country without personally visiting it. To wit, I've made it a point to take my family to other countries, for us to learn other languages, and to get to experience different lifestyles around the world. There are a lot of things that my wife and I do to try to help my stepdaughter interact with information in healthy ways, but that's also easier said than done. To a large degree, the issues with social media have to do with the facade people put up and the underlying social interactions with her peer group, which are hard things to help a teenager address because parents are not directly involved in her peer group. You can only do so much, and at some point as a teenager, your child needs to find their own way. Putting up guard rails ("restricting information") is one way to help them navigate these nuances of life.
  - hax0ron3 4y ago
    Thanks for the thoughtful reply. I would guess that maybe the peer group is the core of the problem. Probably even most, though of course far from all, teenagers realize that issues they might have with people on social media whom they do not know in real life can be resolved by simply not interacting with them. Maybe social media just makes it easy for the peer group to be present in a person's life almost 18 hours a day instead of as in the past, just a few hours a day usually.
    - tristor 4y ago
      I think that's a big piece of it. I think another part of it is that even /if you/ do not use social media, it doesn't meant others won't post you (including pictures/video) on social media and talk about you. In the past, you might get gossip about who went to what event/party/group activity and who didn't, or what they did, but there wasn't a constant stream of photos and video of said acts and occurrences followed by difficult to impossible to monitor comments made semi-anonymously and possibly exposed without your consent to strangers and third-parties. It's not just that it can be challenging to deal with your peer group being present in your life constantly, it's that you have little recourse or ways to escape without intentionally withdrawing from your social peer group, especially as a teenager where social media is so embedded in their very existence. As an adult, it's easier, we can be much more intentional about our relationships and lifestyle, but teenagers exist in a microcosm of the larger society, with all of the same problems but without the same recourses.