3 ms·

>Social media is addictive and socially toxic, on the whole it erodes the very fabric of a society. It's interesting how every generation seems to decry new fo

>Social media is addictive and socially toxic, on the whole it erodes the very fabric of a society. It's interesting how every generation seems to decry new forms of media as eroding the fabric of society. They said it about video games, television, music, movies, etc. I'm sure we're right this time, though.

monkeynotes 3y ago
Yeah, none of those are comparable. TV never lead to children bullying each other anonymously which then leads to kids committing suicide.
bee_rider 3y ago
Television clearly did something pretty significant to society. Cable news makes the country more polarized, that we didn’t do anything about it doesn’t mean it wasn’t a problem. We just missed and now the problem is baked into the status quo. Video games are typically fiction, so the ability to pass propaganda through them is usually a little more limited. It isn’t impossible, just different. Social media is a pretty bad news source for contentious issues. We should be pretty alarmed that people are getting their news there.
angra_mainyu 3y ago
Apples-to-oranges comparison. Plenty has been written already on the ravaging effects of social media on society and it's pretty plain to see. https://www.mcleanhospital.org/essential/it-or-not-social-medias-affecting-your-mental-health https://www.mcleanhospital.org/essential/it-or-not-social-me... > Rates of sexual activity have been in decline for years, but the drop is most pronounced for adults under age 25 (Gen Z). > For Gen Z, a rise in sexlessness has coincided with a decline in mental health. > Sexual activity can boost mood and relieve stress and may serve as a protective factor against anxiety and depressive disorders. https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/the-myths-sex/202209/generation-z-is- https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/the-myths-sex/2022... missing-out-the-benefits-sex
lumb63 3y ago
… we’ve been right. Television, music, video games, movies, etc., have decimated social capital and communication in the western world. It is not uncommon to “hang out” with people who are your “friends” without ever interacting with them in any meaningful way because everyone is focused on, e.g., a television. That’s assuming everyone isn’t too busy playing video games to leave their houses. Whether you agree or not that they’re “eroding the very fabric of a society” (I would argue they are), it should be acknowledged that almost all the downsides predicted have come to pass, and life has gone on not because these things didn’t happen, but in spite of them having happened.
- viraptor 3y ago
  People are interacting through online games quite often though. You can't throw them all in one basket. You can make friends / longer term connections that way (I did) or keep in touch with people you don't live near to.
  - badpun 3y ago
    That's not community, though. You're not inhabiting the same space, share the same problems and try to work them out them together. You're not helping each other out if someone falls into trouble.
    - viraptor 3y ago
      It's up to you what you build that way. You can build a real community, you can build a shallow friend group, the medium doesn't have to limit it. My boss met his wife in a MUD.
      - badpun 3y ago
        You can meet your wife on a Tinder, via ads posted in newspaper or on a cruise. It does not mean that those are communities.
    - sapphicsnail 3y ago
mynameisash 3y ago
It seems that all data on the subject of social media point emphatically to, Yes! It's terrible for adolescents[0] (and probably society writ large?). [0] https://jonathanhaidt.com/social-media/ https://jonathanhaidt.com/social-media/
bcrosby95 3y ago
Social media isn't new. It's over 20 years old by now. If you count things like forums you're looking at 30+ years old.

monkeynotes 3y ago

Yeah, none of those are comparable. TV never lead to children bullying each other anonymously which then leads to kids committing suicide.

bee_rider 3y ago

Television clearly did something pretty significant to society. Cable news makes the country more polarized, that we didn’t do anything about it doesn’t mean it wasn’t a problem. We just missed and now the problem is baked into the status quo. Video games are typically fiction, so the ability to pass propaganda through them is usually a little more limited. It isn’t impossible, just different. Social media is a pretty bad news source for contentious issues. We should be pretty alarmed that people are getting their news there.

angra_mainyu 3y ago

Apples-to-oranges comparison. Plenty has been written already on the ravaging effects of social media on society and it's pretty plain to see. https://www.mcleanhospital.org/essential/it-or-not-social-medias-affecting-your-mental-health https://www.mcleanhospital.org/essential/it-or-not-social-me... > Rates of sexual activity have been in decline for years, but the drop is most pronounced for adults under age 25 (Gen Z). > For Gen Z, a rise in sexlessness has coincided with a decline in mental health. > Sexual activity can boost mood and relieve stress and may serve as a protective factor against anxiety and depressive disorders. https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/the-myths-sex/202209/generation-z-is- https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/the-myths-sex/2022... missing-out-the-benefits-sex

lumb63 3y ago

… we’ve been right. Television, music, video games, movies, etc., have decimated social capital and communication in the western world. It is not uncommon to “hang out” with people who are your “friends” without ever interacting with them in any meaningful way because everyone is focused on, e.g., a television. That’s assuming everyone isn’t too busy playing video games to leave their houses. Whether you agree or not that they’re “eroding the very fabric of a society” (I would argue they are), it should be acknowledged that almost all the downsides predicted have come to pass, and life has gone on not because these things didn’t happen, but in spite of them having happened.

viraptor 3y ago
People are interacting through online games quite often though. You can't throw them all in one basket. You can make friends / longer term connections that way (I did) or keep in touch with people you don't live near to.
- badpun 3y ago
  That's not community, though. You're not inhabiting the same space, share the same problems and try to work them out them together. You're not helping each other out if someone falls into trouble.
  - viraptor 3y ago
    It's up to you what you build that way. You can build a real community, you can build a shallow friend group, the medium doesn't have to limit it. My boss met his wife in a MUD.
    - badpun 3y ago
      You can meet your wife on a Tinder, via ads posted in newspaper or on a cruise. It does not mean that those are communities.
  - sapphicsnail 3y ago

mynameisash 3y ago

It seems that all data on the subject of social media point emphatically to, Yes! It's terrible for adolescents[0] (and probably society writ large?). [0] https://jonathanhaidt.com/social-media/ https://jonathanhaidt.com/social-media/

bcrosby95 3y ago

Social media isn't new. It's over 20 years old by now. If you count things like forums you're looking at 30+ years old.