I see this hysteria about social media and young people to be an object lesson in mistaking correlation with causation. Teenagers aren't stupid. In surveys [1]

I see this hysteria about social media and young people to be an object lesson in mistaking correlation with causation. Teenagers aren't stupid. In surveys [1] they have a bleak future outlook. Now, we can look at that and blame it on doomer social media. But look at the facts: young people are facting bleak economic conditions and a lifetime of debt serviced by an underpaying job. Student debt, housing debt, medical debt, it never ends. Another data point: despite a bleak outlook for the economy, consumer spending continues to rise [2]. Why? One hypothesis is that a lot of people think they have no future so there's absolutely no point saving (eg anecdote [3]). So is social media really the problem? Or is it that people feel like they have no future? And if it is the latter, blaming social media for creating that sentiment feels a lot like shooting the messenger. [1]: https://archive.is/HmZ9d https://archive.is/HmZ9d [2]: https://www.vox.com/money/24159281/consumer-spending-economy-inflation-interest-rates https://www.vox.com/money/24159281/consumer-spending-economy... [3]: https://www.reddit.com/r/GenZ/comments/16u9suk/does_anyone_else_feel_like_we_have_no_future/ https://www.reddit.com/r/GenZ/comments/16u9suk/does_anyone_e...