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I definitely think social media has a large share in driving down the mental health of the majority of users. No two lives are comparable, yet it induces people
by abhayhegde 3y ago
I definitely think social media has a large share in driving down the mental health of the majority of users. No two lives are comparable, yet it induces people to compare their lives to someone else's often resulting in an unreasonable amount of envy, jealousy, and a general dissatisfaction of their lives. People pick their best moments while sharing, but it's never the true picture. It sets unrealistic expectations.
- salawat 3y agoSo what are you blaming exactly? The fact that social media has us all connected and capable of measuring relative to others? Or the fact it's weaponized by an entire industry of "influencers" subsidized by actors just trying to maximize the consumption factor of economic activity? Or the fact that the system is fundamentally governed by network effect induced power laws, leading to massive inequality, that can end up being a stressor on average? Just trying to tease out the right thread here, is all. Something that lets us all communicate isn't inherently bad. It's the end that it is applied to that is.
- nrb 3y ago> Something that lets us all communicate isn't inherently bad. I’m not so sure this is the case. Seems like we are testing the limits of our social programming when exposed to networks _vastly_ beyond our capabilities historically, and we’re seeing the various ways that our social behaviors break down naturally. That there is a profit motive in encouraging and accelerating this breakdown might be orthogonal to the idea that it isn’t meant to exist at this scale in the first place.