4 ms·
It’s Toasted
- shevy-java 5mo agoI understand the comparison, and if it were up to me, Facebook (aka Meta) and so forth should be disbanded and chopped up at once. But ... > Recent research shows that social media design features like infinite scroll and algorithmic feeds may encourage compulsive use and contribute to anxiety, depression, and social comparison. So their design is addictive; not disagreeing. I think most of us know that, even as adults, how infinite scrolling on youtube for shorts, lead to a "just one more video" effect. But even with those shenanigans in mind, I simply do not see this anywhere on the same level as smoking. The health data with regards to smoking is all there, people lose about 10 years when smoking for a long time - at the least. You can find similar data points elsewhere, e. g. sumo wrestlers in Japan dying about 15 years earlier than the rest of the population. Those data points are absolutely significant. There is no way to deny that. But comparing this to the addictive scrolling or what not ... we don't have anywhere near similar data points. That does not mean one should look at addictive design as anything but "innocent" or "harmless", but the comparison to smoking is simply not on a factual level. If anything Facebook should be eliminated for lobbying and bribes - we witness this right now when so many states push for age sniffing of everyone using the internet while concomitantly attacking VPNs. This is not accidental - this is deliberate. And the common lie is "but but but think anyone of the kids!!!".
- pasquinelli 5mo agoi sort of want to defend the article because it isn't comparing the health effects of the tobacco industry and social media, but rather their pr strategies... but that being said the article is very weak, so i don't want to defend it.
- haritha-j 5mo agoTo be fair, if I doomscroll an hour a day for 50 years, I'd literally lose 2 years of my life. (1hr/day * 50 years)/24hrs = 2.1 years.
- deleted 5mo ago[deleted]
- jaapz 5mo agoThat's only fair when you think doomscrolling is the same as being literally dead.
- actionfromafar 5mo agoNot resting in peace, that’s for sure.
- red-iron-pine 5mo agothis assumes that 1) you're not learning stuff while scrolling -- which may be true -- and 2) that you're not enjoying it or getting a benefit from it "if I spent 1 hour a day meditating/working out/playing baseball/walking my dog for 50 years I'd waste 2 years of my life"
- weltensturm 5mo agohttps://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2014-05-23-many-mental-illnesses-reduce-life-expectancy-more-heavy-smoking https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2014-05-23-many-mental-illnesses-r...
- wiseowise 5mo agoSocial networks in the current form are, what, 10 years old? We already see collapse of attention and mental effects on people of different ages, full impact will be seen only in 20-30 years when current generation grows up. > And the common lie is "but but but think anyone of the kids!!!". I’m the first one to call out “think about the kids” bullshit, but this is directly applicable here.
- lelanthran 5mo ago> Social networks in the current form are, what, 10 years old? We already see collapse of attention and mental effects on people of different ages, full impact will be seen only in 20-30 years when current generation grows up. Any doomscrolling effect on mental faculties in 20-30 years would be completely dwarfed by the effect of AI. It won't even be a rounding error. I just posted on another thread where someone was proudly showing off a piece of software that they vibed. Even a single minute of googling would have shown them that their goal was already achievable on current linux distros without any extra software, but now we have someone who could have learned something instead remain completely ignorant. Doomscrolling has nothing on the +ignorance that all-in AI users are experiencing, especially since they can't tell that they're getting objectively dumber.
- wiseowise 5mo ago> I just posted on another thread where someone was proudly showing off a piece of software that they vibes. Even a single minute of googling would have shown them that their goal was already achievable on current linux distros without any extra software, but now we have someone who could have learned something instead remain completely ignorant. What makes you think they’re ignorant instead of just not giving a shit? There’s no money to make in “achievable on current Linux distros without any extra software”. The hustle culture that permeates this is another consequence of social networks.
- lelanthran 5mo ago> What makes you think they’re ignorant instead of just not giving a shit? They said so. They didn't know how to do this, and they said so.
- DauntingPear7 5mo agoPerhaps it’s not about the length of life but instead the quality of life. Gambling addiction is bad but doesn’t necessarily reduce lifespan in a way comparable to smoking, for example.
- the_gipsy 5mo agoFacebook. They're still Facebook to me. Rebrand all you want, you're just Facebook, incapable of doing anything beyond buying WhatsApp and Instagram.
- Groxx 5mo agoAnd making them worse, let's not forget that.
- thrownthatway 5mo agoThey did conjure up some hardware along the way too.
- BizarroLand 5mo agoDid they? I know they bought oculus, but that's like saying Elon built Tesla when Tesla was already being built before he showed up to throw money at it.
- thrownthatway 5mo agoOh yeah true. I sit corrected.
- dickeeT 5mo agoi mean they also created React, not that i really use it
- the_gipsy 5mo agoNet negative
- red-iron-pine 5mo agothey're quite capable of lobbying governments to obliterate the free and open internet because they don't want to do age verification
- Auzy 5mo agoThey're not even moderating anymore
- cermicelli 5mo agoCan we just, I mean just stop using and caring about most social media. Especially facebook, it offers no meaningful value. It's slow, obtuse and haven't made life better for anyone in the last decade I suppose. Maybe whatsapp has some use, but otherwise what's even the point. I don't even have ads on whatsapp not yet anyways, I will get my family to switch when they do. I don't care about you Meta/Facebook or whatever it is.
- BLKNSLVR 5mo agoThe problem is it that it has a helluva lot of momentum from normies. Easily enough to outweigh the resistance of the likes of you and me. The only thing will break it is a better / easier alternative. And with enough success that will probably turn into the next big bad.
- ramon156 5mo ago> normies I would argue that it's more or less that humans don't like change, and that boomers get upset about change. It seems that the older you get, the more egotistical/selfish you become. I'm not saying my grandma is selfish for not wanting to switch away from WhatsApp, but I am saying that it'd be hard to convince her to switch, hence I don't try.
- wiseowise 5mo ago> It seems that the older you get, the more self-respect you develop. FTFY.
- BLKNSLVR 5mo agoOnly if you switch off all the consumer hostile platforms...
- lelanthran 5mo ago> I'm not saying my grandma is selfish for not wanting to switch away from WhatsApp, but I am saying that it'd be hard to convince her to switch, hence I don't try. Ever considered that you may be the selfish one for even wanting her to switch? You want to make your life more convenient at the expense of her convenience because switching from whatsapp is a huge inconvenience.
- pllbnk 5mo agoThey are investing big fat 0 in safety features. The only money they spend is on facade of safety. I have reported many times obviously fake scam bot accounts that would send me private messages and at best I would receive feedback that they didn't remove the account.
- tech4goodgeek 5mo ago[dead]
- photios 5mo agoSomewhat tangential... I "love" how a pack of Luckies cost 10 cents in 1917 and now they are at about $10. https://wtfhappenedin1971.com https://wtfhappenedin1971.com