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I was born in the late 90's and so I grew up with social media existing: first MSN Messenger, then [pre-FB social network popular where I lived], later Facebook

I was born in the late 90's and so I grew up with social media existing: first MSN Messenger, then [pre-FB social network popular where I lived], later Facebook, and that's just the networks my classmates used. I had a smartphone in the last three years I was in highschool. The bit where the author reacts incredulously to cyberbullying not increasing with smartphones is… weird, to me. I am not convinced smartphones made social media more of a thing, they just shifted the mode of consumption. Social media was a thing at least five years before smartphones were. I think the moral panic about smartphones ruining kids' lives is looking in the wrong places. The internet gave me a safe place to discover myself and escape real-life bullying. If I hadn't had internet access I don't think I'd have been happier.

worldsayshi 4y ago
>The internet gave me a safe place Maybe the internet stopped being a safe place? Social media is increasingly feeling like a space designed for manipulation.
- InCityDreams 4y ago
  I always taught my kids that the internet is like choosing a bar, or club. Some are great, there are thieves around, some of the customers are 'a bit rough', some will become your friends or only acquaintances, someone always wants your money, people will lie to you. Bars and clubs aren't inherently unsafe, but you just gotta be careful.
- sundvor 4y ago
  That's a big part of TikTok, isn't it - it seems designed to make kids feel miserable and to have mental illnesses. (Not at all destabilizing society, of course. Because of all the positive things it offers. /s)
  - snozolli 4y ago
    60 Minutes piece on Douyin (domestic users) versus TikTok (foreign users): https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0j0xzuh-6rY https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0j0xzuh-6rY tl;dw: Chinese users get more wholesome content, particularly children, along with usage limits.
    - sundvor 4y ago
      Yes; I can see that it's not something that's shared here on HN, or at least a controversial opinion to have - however I see it as a great toxic instrument of evil. Examples are so plentiful, take for instance all these cyber-bullying pieces where men might be called out at gyms for having eyes and actually just taking in their surroundings - and females of peak physique in near naked appearance would be nearly impossible to ignore. In slow motion, everyone's a creep who needs their face shamed right? That's just one example. There's a dungeon of extremely negative content that especially kids should not be subject to. So the cynic in me can't help but see this sowing of discontent as something that could read from the Art of War. And that's before considering the security implications that the app has.
- TazeTSchnitzel 4y ago
  I should have said “safer”. It was never “safe”, but neither is the offline world.
blowski 4y ago
Smartphones increased usage of social media because you can use it everywhere, all the time. When it was tied to a PC at home, there was a natural limit.
- TazeTSchnitzel 4y ago
  Yes, that's true, if you're addicted they make it harder to escape it. But it's a difference of degree mostly.
  - jwestbury 4y ago
    Sure, but differences of degrees are important. That's the gap between taking opiates for post-surgical pain and being addicted to opiates.
kerpotgh 4y ago
[dead]

worldsayshi 4y ago

>The internet gave me a safe place Maybe the internet stopped being a safe place? Social media is increasingly feeling like a space designed for manipulation.

InCityDreams 4y ago
I always taught my kids that the internet is like choosing a bar, or club. Some are great, there are thieves around, some of the customers are 'a bit rough', some will become your friends or only acquaintances, someone always wants your money, people will lie to you. Bars and clubs aren't inherently unsafe, but you just gotta be careful.
sundvor 4y ago
That's a big part of TikTok, isn't it - it seems designed to make kids feel miserable and to have mental illnesses. (Not at all destabilizing society, of course. Because of all the positive things it offers. /s)
- snozolli 4y ago
  60 Minutes piece on Douyin (domestic users) versus TikTok (foreign users): https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0j0xzuh-6rY https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0j0xzuh-6rY tl;dw: Chinese users get more wholesome content, particularly children, along with usage limits.
  - sundvor 4y ago
    Yes; I can see that it's not something that's shared here on HN, or at least a controversial opinion to have - however I see it as a great toxic instrument of evil. Examples are so plentiful, take for instance all these cyber-bullying pieces where men might be called out at gyms for having eyes and actually just taking in their surroundings - and females of peak physique in near naked appearance would be nearly impossible to ignore. In slow motion, everyone's a creep who needs their face shamed right? That's just one example. There's a dungeon of extremely negative content that especially kids should not be subject to. So the cynic in me can't help but see this sowing of discontent as something that could read from the Art of War. And that's before considering the security implications that the app has.
TazeTSchnitzel 4y ago
I should have said “safer”. It was never “safe”, but neither is the offline world.

blowski 4y ago

Smartphones increased usage of social media because you can use it everywhere, all the time. When it was tied to a PC at home, there was a natural limit.

TazeTSchnitzel 4y ago
Yes, that's true, if you're addicted they make it harder to escape it. But it's a difference of degree mostly.
- jwestbury 4y ago
  Sure, but differences of degrees are important. That's the gap between taking opiates for post-surgical pain and being addicted to opiates.

kerpotgh 4y ago

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