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> In social media research, we focus on “how much social media did a person consume?” and we plan our experiments accordingly...Most don’t even distinguish betw

> In social media research, we focus on “how much social media did a person consume?” and we plan our experiments accordingly...Most don’t even distinguish between platforms, as if Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, and TikTok are just different kinds of liquor. This is the problem I have with studies of "social media". It's like saying "the internet" causes problem, or "computers". These are overly broad categories and I refuse to believe someone interacting with tight-knit hobby groups on Facebook for 4 hours per day is suffering the same consequences as someone doom-scrolling photos of models on Instagram for 4 hours per day.

Deegy 4y ago
This is a great point and it's where I struggle to moderate my own social media consumption. Is aimlessly scrolling my twitter feed a net benefit to my overall mood and well being? I'm 95% sure it's not. Is spending 20-30 minutes browsing hacker news every morning a net benefit to my overall mood and well being? I'm not sure.
- caddemon 4y ago
  Yeah it's hard to know precisely, it's probably not a big negative either though - focusing on cutting down the aimless scrolling is probably a better priority than figuring out the effects of 30 minutes of HN (easier said than done ofc).
caddemon 4y ago
When it comes to teens and their friend groups it's even more complicated than that. The same basic activity on the same platform could be worlds apart depending on the real world group dynamics. Still, I think at a certain point (with 4 hours per day surpassing that point IMO) it's hard to argue the activity remains beneficial. I'm not sure how someone would have time to do an actual hobby and spend a literal 4 hours per day on hobby social media groups, unless they're so wealthy they don't need to work, or they're not taking care of their health e.g. sleeping too little. So I don't think it would be a terrible public health thing to encourage people to set personal social media time limits (on average), even if it may be premature scientifically to say much specifically. Of course it's critical to not pretend that research is further along than it actually is in any sort of proactive public health PSA.
KingMob 4y ago
The author agrees, but says many of the studies his critics point to were combining all computer use into generic "screen time". If true, the research hasn't even focused heavily enough on "social media" combined, much less drilled down into different sites/apps/usage patterns.

Deegy 4y ago

This is a great point and it's where I struggle to moderate my own social media consumption. Is aimlessly scrolling my twitter feed a net benefit to my overall mood and well being? I'm 95% sure it's not. Is spending 20-30 minutes browsing hacker news every morning a net benefit to my overall mood and well being? I'm not sure.

caddemon 4y ago
Yeah it's hard to know precisely, it's probably not a big negative either though - focusing on cutting down the aimless scrolling is probably a better priority than figuring out the effects of 30 minutes of HN (easier said than done ofc).

caddemon 4y ago

When it comes to teens and their friend groups it's even more complicated than that. The same basic activity on the same platform could be worlds apart depending on the real world group dynamics. Still, I think at a certain point (with 4 hours per day surpassing that point IMO) it's hard to argue the activity remains beneficial. I'm not sure how someone would have time to do an actual hobby and spend a literal 4 hours per day on hobby social media groups, unless they're so wealthy they don't need to work, or they're not taking care of their health e.g. sleeping too little. So I don't think it would be a terrible public health thing to encourage people to set personal social media time limits (on average), even if it may be premature scientifically to say much specifically. Of course it's critical to not pretend that research is further along than it actually is in any sort of proactive public health PSA.

KingMob 4y ago

The author agrees, but says many of the studies his critics point to were combining all computer use into generic "screen time". If true, the research hasn't even focused heavily enough on "social media" combined, much less drilled down into different sites/apps/usage patterns.