6 ms·
The dark side of social media on youth mental health
- kamikazeturtles 3y ago[flagged]
- spidersenses 3y ago[flagged]
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- hotdogscout 3y ago[flagged]
- politelemon 3y agoI maintain that it's not necessarily social media on its own. It's social media enablement which is a major factor, by which I mean prevalence of devices to access those apps, and the environmental support, parenting or lack thereof (touchy subject since parents will take it personally). Having constant exposure to social media versus occasional, sporadic/segmented access will greatly influence how body image will be perceived and affected.
- Levitz 3y agoSure, so on one side you have the long-term thinking and carefulness of teenagers, on the other you have literally billions of dollars and thousands of people which careers revolve around making those teenagers as addicted as they can. I agree that the problem is in how it's used, but you could say the same thing about heroin, predatory loans or casinos. It's not reasonable to put all the weight on personal responsibility when screwing with the process of thought is one of the most lucrative enterprises in the whole planet to begin with.
- coffeemug 3y agoPeople said roughly the same things about TV, video games, and even D&D. This time may be different, but we’d need to explain what specifically about social media+mobile makes it more dangerous than those other categories. I worry about social media effects too, but another part of me wants to apply skepticism.
- fipar 3y agoThe article seems focused on eating disorders and other mental health problems related to one’s view of one’s body in relation to others, so I’m not sure this is something that was said before about video games and D&D, but you are right about TV. I think the biggest difference is with TV, while a teenager would still be exposed to other teenagers with a body image that could make them feel bad about their own, it would still be within the context of fiction and at lest some kids could write it off as “those are stars” or “that’s fake”. In social medial, the new stars are influencers who otherwise seem like normal people so I feel the pressure to try and look like someone else is higher.
- watwut 3y agoI know people whose marriages failed and who flunked college because of inability to pause a videogame. Also, basement guys who do nothing but play are a real thing. As those became more addictive, they are an actual issue for actual real people.
- sjfjsjdjwvwvc 3y agoMaybe beside the point but heroin was developed by Bayer in 1897 as a less addictive replacement for morphine. Hoffmann created it just two weeks after aspirin, really interesting story.
- vitarnixofntrnt 3y ago[dead]
- Flux159 3y agoOne of the problems is that social media companies are incentivized to increase social media usage - whether watch time (YouTube, Facebook, TikTok), engagement (Twitter, Reddit, etc), or other metrics. The government doesn’t have legislation on this and the Surgeon general warning is just advice at the moment - unless there’s a concerted effort like the Tobacco campaigns, this probably won’t get better.
- 0xDEAFBEAD 3y agoTime for an attention tax?
- DueDilligence 3y ago[dead]
- Tao3300 3y agoThere's a bright side??
- haolez 3y agoSome multiplayer games can be considered social networks and can develop deep relationships. It's the ones like Instagram and TikTok that try to get you addicted and incentives showing off.
- explaininjs 3y ago[flagged]
- Tao3300 3y agoAlmost cute, but I don't give a flying fuck about my HN points. I also haven't counted as "youth" in a long time.
- juanani 3y ago[dead]
- explaininjs 3y agoYou clearly get something of benefit out of this social media, otherwise you wouldn’t likely use it so consistently for so long. What makes you doubt people younger than you might get similar benefits from other social media?
- somedude895 3y agoLooking into people's posting history for the sake of arguments is bad etiquette, please refrain from it.
- explaininjs 3y agoWho are you to tell me what to do? I listen to site Guidelines and moderators, not random dudes making up rules at will. And while we’re on the topic of bad etiquette, “bossing people around when you hold absolutely zero authority…”
- huppeldepup 3y agoCan we remind ourselves that these platforms, games, websites- whatever form or shape - employ busloads of psychologists and every dirty trick in the book (developed by, among other things, the ad industry) to get people hooked on the product/service?
- lagrange77 3y ago> busloads of psychologists Aren't they bound to the Hippocratic oath?
- zabzonk 3y agopsychologists may well not be medics, so no. psychiatrists very often are medics.
- sjfjsjdjwvwvc 3y agoEven if they were the oath doesn’t really mean anything beyond personal beliefs
- 0xEF 3y agoNo. The APA has an ethics code, but that's about it. Even the Hippocratic Oath is not as legally binding as we might want it to be.
- krapp 3y agoI should hope a vague ritual invocation of pagan gods wouldn't be legally binding.
- throwup238 3y ago> Even the Hippocratic Oath is not as legally binding as we might want it to be. That's largely because "do no harm" is a really fuzzy concept in a field where treatments like chemotherapy that put patients through absolute hell without any guarantee of remission or even comfort. Other licensed professionals like professional engineers and lawyers have ethical codes with quite a bit more legal heft.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- Animats 3y agoThis may be an important subject, but the article is terrible. Also, the author has an anti-fitness bias.
- blitz_skull 3y agoYet another reminder that social media is nothing but a social contagion on our society. Do not allow your kids on social media if you care for their long-term mental health!
- georgesimon 3y agoSocial Media is a part of the world now. Just like any danger in life, kids need to be able to recognize it and have the skills to deal with it - banning them would only make them more vulnerable in the long term.
- deafpolygon 3y agoBanning is useless, as you say it's part of the world now. However, there's something to be said about delaying or reducing their use of it. Too many children are getting social media very young (8 years old) and they are constantly connected to their peers, which is harmful. They need time away (both mentally and physically) from their peers and more time with family (rather than being ON social) to be able to develop as an individual.
- pier25 3y agoIt should be regulated just like alcohol and gambling.
- blitz_skull 3y agoSex is part of the world and has been forever. We still should shield and heavily regulate any interaction between children and sex. Because its improper usage is devastating and harmful.
- ThinkBeat 3y ago> These trends have been documented in women and men, in the LGBTQ+ community and in people of different racial and ethnic backgrounds. Could we perhaps say "in all groups", which is easier as "everyone". Or list groups that are not included. "These trends have been documented to apply to everyone, except people who drink 4 cups of coffee when they get up in the morning" If not, we do know how to this applies to neurodivergent people, they are not mentioned. We dont know who it applies to people with different religions. We dont know how it applies to physically disabled people. In short, you cannot reasonably account for every group individually.
- advael 3y agoHonestly in the present day I am more surprised to hear about bright sides to social media
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- bargle0 3y agoThere’s no bright side. Just dark and darker.
- sjfjsjdjwvwvc 3y agoDelete your social media accounts today. I did it about three years ago and haven’t missed it for a second since. (granted I still use HN almost daily, but I would argue that’s the least harmful version of social media out there today)
- remarkEon 3y agoI gave all social media up for Lent in 2018, and then just never turned it back on. Did the formal delete request about a year after that. I'm happier, I talk to my friends and family more, I send them pictures via DM or email (and they end up being the ones that actually matter) etc etc. I could go on but I don't think I need to.
- remarkEon 3y agoSocial Media is this weird thing where most people can grok that it's bad, and hits all of these very nefarious aspects of the human condition in all the worst possible ways. And yet, we're unable to actually do anything about it. There has to be a word for this ... for something that everyone understands is a negative influence but we all keep around for reasons that we find difficult or complex to articulate (perhaps in a language other than English?).
- mewpmewp2 3y agoAddiction? I mean there's tons of things like this. Tobacco, Alcohol, Junk Food, the list goes on.
- reducesuffering 3y agoMoloch is pretty close to what you mean https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/07/30/meditations-on-moloch/ https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/07/30/meditations-on-moloch/