this post was submitted on 03 Oct 2024
3 points (100.0% liked)

Technology

59380 readers
3718 users here now

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.


Our Rules


  1. Follow the lemmy.world rules.
  2. Only tech related content.
  3. Be excellent to each another!
  4. Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
  5. Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
  6. Politics threads may be removed.
  7. No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
  8. Only approved bots from the list below, to ask if your bot can be added please contact us.
  9. Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed

Approved Bots


founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
top 12 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (3 children)

This is a pretty clickbaity counter-article that doesn't review the original in good faith. The New Yorker article is not titled 'Social Media Is Killing Kids' but rather 'Has Social Media Fuelled A Teen-Suicide Crisis?' with a lead of:

Mental-health struggles have risen sharply among young Americans, and parents and lawmakers alike are scrutinizing life online for answers.

So the implication that the premise of the article is to demonise social media is completely wrong, since it's actually an investigation into the issue. That's also the reason it's long (another strange complaint from a guy whose 3000+ word response is only ever his opinions).

The "moral panic tropes" are testimony from real parents whose real children killed themselves. And these real parents think social media was responsible. It strikes me as pretty low to hand wave away the grief of these real people because it inconveniently feeds into a narrative you have some instinctual problem with.

The author tries to frame the balance of the New Yorker article as some kind of gotcha. Like it's somehow a bad thing that this other writer took the time to consult with and quote experts who provide a different opinion. Personally I would much rather read that then something like this which was basically the equivalent of a reddit eXpOsEd thread.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago (1 children)

It strikes me as pretty ~~low~~ reasonable to hand wave away the ~~grief~~ anecdotes because they're not scientifically meaningful.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago

Common thing said but pretty stupid. Most scientific discoveries are grounded in figuring out anecdotal phenomenon. This is even more true for social sciences

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 month ago

It strikes me as pretty low to hand wave away the grief of these real people

Grieving people are stupid people. Call it low if you want, but ignoring them is sound policy.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Yeah. My parents, teachers, ministers, police officers, etc were glad to blame Dungeons and Dragons for my major depression and suicidality in the 1980s, because none of them wanted to look at systemic social problems that are even worse today.

So if those kids are genuinely suicidal, that means the home is not a place where they feel safe. That implies parental dysfunction.

Remember we also were quick to blame vaccines for ASD because it was too hard on parents to suggest childhood upbringing factors.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago

I can tell you for a fact that if I were to unalive myself today my parents would blame it on social media, the school system being woke, queer people "confusing" me, vaccines, or whatever else

But they'd never look at themselves and think that maybe how they treated me as a child led to consequences that still heavily affect me today. Where their "parenting" led to mental health issues that I struggle with even still decently into my 20s

(And in case you're worried, no I won't kill myself, don't worry)

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago

That’s particularly scummy of the New Yorker, what I used to think was a pretty great publication.

Although it is true that social media is not good for children, I’m sure it’s not actually killing them.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Commercial social media is a cancer on society. Facebook has convinced adults to commit atrocities. There is no doubt it's harming children.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago

The thing that shocked me is some kids have anxiety merely walking from class to class if they aren't with a friend then they need to be on their phones, sometimes even pretending to be messaging people or commenting because they feel judged by kids around them for not being popular enough or something

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Yes, facebook should be shut down.

The oppression of children is a gross attack on a defenseless population that's not actually going to improve anything.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago

That's a particularly buried lede

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

The desperate need to try to wave away any possible negative effects from social media by people heavily dependent on social media comes as no surprise. It's like trying to criticize fast food to a fat person.

Some will acknowledge it's bad for them and eat it anyway, but most will just get extremely defensive about it and try to rationalize or downvote. It has vitamins! If you only eat the unfried vegetables and only drink water, it's actually good for you!