4 ms·

Before social media we had rap music glorifying criminal activity, 16 and pregnant and other assorted reality TV, before that we had old MTV and metal music tha

Before social media we had rap music glorifying criminal activity, 16 and pregnant and other assorted reality TV, before that we had old MTV and metal music that glorified hedonism, before that we had girl magazines with "impossible beauty standards", the pressure to wear make up, before that we had the sexual revolution... It seems that for every generation there has been something corrupting it. The older people get their panties in a wad and the younger people become more self destructive. America just has a culture of pushing limits and often those limits were there for a reason. Chesterton's fence and all that. All this social upheaval and people aren't happy. So much progress and everyone seems to be more and more miserable. So what is the solution? Ban Instagram filters? Make self esteem our golden bull? Begin goose stepping? I don't think anyone knows, and we are all just looking for someone to blame.

wickedwiesel 3y ago
There is solid research out there suggesting that this is different. Large n, several years, multiple countries all pointing to all increase in tune with the advent of visual social media (Instagram, TikTok - not Facebook or WhatsApp). The time series analysis makes this not merely correlational. I point to my sibling post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38201807 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38201807 Visual social media like TikTok and instagram seem to be a different beast than TV, WhatsApp and other media.
- friend_and_foe 3y ago
  Everything is a different beast than what came before it. Notice, I'm not saying the panty wringers were wrong about all the stuff that came before. I've come to terms with the fact that they were largely right. The corruption of each successive generation actually happened. What I'm saying is, it seems that this is just an artifact of culture rather than standalone negative impacts of new things. I don't know what to do with that information, but it is staring me in the face.

wickedwiesel 3y ago

There is solid research out there suggesting that this is different. Large n, several years, multiple countries all pointing to all increase in tune with the advent of visual social media (Instagram, TikTok - not Facebook or WhatsApp). The time series analysis makes this not merely correlational. I point to my sibling post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38201807 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38201807 Visual social media like TikTok and instagram seem to be a different beast than TV, WhatsApp and other media.

friend_and_foe 3y ago
Everything is a different beast than what came before it. Notice, I'm not saying the panty wringers were wrong about all the stuff that came before. I've come to terms with the fact that they were largely right. The corruption of each successive generation actually happened. What I'm saying is, it seems that this is just an artifact of culture rather than standalone negative impacts of new things. I don't know what to do with that information, but it is staring me in the face.