3 ms·

I'm not sure what explanation you're proposing here. Wouldn't this just as well describe most mass media of the past ~50 years?

EGreg 3y ago
No, because mass media was carefully curating its images to children (eg Sesame Street, Mr Rogers, Fox Kids, Animaniacs, Batman, PG-13 etc) and its profit motive wasn’t aligned with an algorithm that is designed to get people addicted to social media. Social media totally changed the expectations for teens… just like selling in a flea market vs selling on Amazon, you’re now competing against the whole world. Actually, there was a profit motive in children’s programming, it was for merchandise, and also had predictable results as capitalism always has: https://www.pbs.org/video/frontline-merchants-cool/ https://www.pbs.org/video/frontline-merchants-cool/ https://www.history.com/news/action-figures-g-i-joe-star-wars https://www.history.com/news/action-figures-g-i-joe-star-war... Many of the children’s shows (ahem, YuGiOh, Pokemon) were explicitly around selling shit to them, but at least it was external and not about their body image and social goals and expectations. Actually, the best analogy I can give, in terms of destructive power, to the TikTok/Instagram effect on teen girls, was the Gangsta Rap effect on teen boys (typically Black boys because that is who was selected by the music industry to be promoted). And with the same industry always claiming there is “no effect”, while an entire generation started cussin’ and acting much more violently than their parents. Sure, there are of course other socioeconomic factors, such as the rise of single-parent households typically without a father in the home, or both parents working long hours and neglecting the kids. That cannot be dismissed either. But that is also a result of corporations and their profit motive, selling a collective dream to adults (not children) that climbing the corporate ladder leads to better self-actualization. I was there when Sheryl Sandberg revealed her book “Lean In”, for instance, I saw firsthand the narratives that corporate america inclucates in families. Whether it’s social media, the music industry, or corporations, they exert a huge pressure on our society and psyche. Sometimes it’s very overt: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xNzXze5Yza8 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xNzXze5Yza8 But most of the time it is simply pervasive, like “the American dream” etc.

EGreg 3y ago

No, because mass media was carefully curating its images to children (eg Sesame Street, Mr Rogers, Fox Kids, Animaniacs, Batman, PG-13 etc) and its profit motive wasn’t aligned with an algorithm that is designed to get people addicted to social media. Social media totally changed the expectations for teens… just like selling in a flea market vs selling on Amazon, you’re now competing against the whole world. Actually, there was a profit motive in children’s programming, it was for merchandise, and also had predictable results as capitalism always has: https://www.pbs.org/video/frontline-merchants-cool/ https://www.pbs.org/video/frontline-merchants-cool/ https://www.history.com/news/action-figures-g-i-joe-star-wars https://www.history.com/news/action-figures-g-i-joe-star-war... Many of the children’s shows (ahem, YuGiOh, Pokemon) were explicitly around selling shit to them, but at least it was external and not about their body image and social goals and expectations. Actually, the best analogy I can give, in terms of destructive power, to the TikTok/Instagram effect on teen girls, was the Gangsta Rap effect on teen boys (typically Black boys because that is who was selected by the music industry to be promoted). And with the same industry always claiming there is “no effect”, while an entire generation started cussin’ and acting much more violently than their parents. Sure, there are of course other socioeconomic factors, such as the rise of single-parent households typically without a father in the home, or both parents working long hours and neglecting the kids. That cannot be dismissed either. But that is also a result of corporations and their profit motive, selling a collective dream to adults (not children) that climbing the corporate ladder leads to better self-actualization. I was there when Sheryl Sandberg revealed her book “Lean In”, for instance, I saw firsthand the narratives that corporate america inclucates in families. Whether it’s social media, the music industry, or corporations, they exert a huge pressure on our society and psyche. Sometimes it’s very overt: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xNzXze5Yza8 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xNzXze5Yza8 But most of the time it is simply pervasive, like “the American dream” etc.