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A parallel between attitudes about new technologies, does not work when the parallel between the two technologies itself is broken. I too was on slashdot, back

A parallel between attitudes about new technologies, does not work when the parallel between the two technologies itself is broken. I too was on slashdot, back in the early days of 5 digit/6 digit IDs. I’ve since worked in trust and safety, and contributed to research on it, and have played video games enough that it’s the “sport” I prefer. The evidence and research shows that social media is entirely different than the benign games we grew up with. Zelda, Mario, Golden Eye, Ultima - are not the same as the behavioral skinner boxes that showed up with the advent of FarmVille. And thats just games - the Skinner box and addictive design philosophy has resulted in direct quotes from people at meta warning their executives that this is going to make life worse for children and teens. The comparison isn’t between panic about video games. The comparison is about panic about giving kids cigarettes and vapes.

gms 2mo ago
I think you should talk to some real life teenagers to see how hysterical this impression is.
- intended 2mo ago
  Oh, thats an interesting response. Perhaps something like this? https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2025/04/22/teens-social-media-and-mental-health/ https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2025/04/22/teens-social... > Still, teens are growing more wary of social media for their peers. Roughly half of teens (48%) say these sites have a mostly negative effect on people their age, up from 32% in 2022. But fewer (14%) think they negatively affect them personally. What next? Maybe we should wait for the creators of social media tools to be caught on record saying that they did the tests and know it’s harmful? However I suspect that nothing I say will shift your position.
  - gms 2mo ago
    Yes, because revealed preferences are different. Meta's properties (for example) have billions of users for a reason (me included). Some people are prone to feeling bad irrespective of social media. One can also espouse the same view about video games (I don't play them anymore for this reason, but certainly did as a child/teenager).

gms 2mo ago

I think you should talk to some real life teenagers to see how hysterical this impression is.

intended 2mo ago
Oh, thats an interesting response. Perhaps something like this? https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2025/04/22/teens-social-media-and-mental-health/ https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2025/04/22/teens-social... > Still, teens are growing more wary of social media for their peers. Roughly half of teens (48%) say these sites have a mostly negative effect on people their age, up from 32% in 2022. But fewer (14%) think they negatively affect them personally. What next? Maybe we should wait for the creators of social media tools to be caught on record saying that they did the tests and know it’s harmful? However I suspect that nothing I say will shift your position.
- gms 2mo ago
  Yes, because revealed preferences are different. Meta's properties (for example) have billions of users for a reason (me included). Some people are prone to feeling bad irrespective of social media. One can also espouse the same view about video games (I don't play them anymore for this reason, but certainly did as a child/teenager).