Social Media is dangerous

[bees]

This thread was started in 2021 and it's 2024 now! I'm glad to say there's been a lot more public discussion about those issues since.

I can't chime in with a personal experience* BUT I have a question. I know there are younger people on this forum who are currently teenagers or were teenagers a meere few years ago. What do you think of articles about the connection of social media and mental health? I recently saw an article that made a lot of sense to me, about the stress caused by social media and the way it can also make it harder for young people, but now I've also seen at least one rebuttal claiming that this is just masking the real underlying issues. Do you think there could be a way for kids to use social media in a healthy manner (by addressing underlying problems) or do you think that's always going to be a thing as long as you have to worry about your "brand" 24/7 and stuff like that?

* I'm too anti-social for social media, I've generally spent the last 15 years mostly avoiding it because it doesn't feel fun to me 

[BlazingCobaltX]

I can't chime in with a personal experience* BUT I have a question. I know there are younger people on this forum who are currently teenagers or were teenagers a meere few years ago. What do you think of articles about the connection of social media and mental health? I recently saw an article that made a lot of sense to me, about the stress caused by social media and the way it can also make it harder for young people, but now I've also seen at least one rebuttal claiming that this is just masking the real underlying issues. Do you think there could be a way for kids to use social media in a healthy manner (by addressing underlying problems) or do you think that's always going to be a thing as long as you have to worry about your "brand" 24/7 and stuff like that?

Not a teen but I want to add that in my local policy discourse a lot of (mostly older) folk strongly assert that social media is the reason for the demise of today's youth. Meanwhile, if you look at studies on this, teens identify both positive and negative aspects of their social media usage. And when asked about what causes them most stress, they identify different factors than the presence of their phones. I, too, think social media is just an amplifier of deeper issues within society, not even mentioning that the constant access to internet exposes today's youth to more (sometimes distressing) information than ever before.

That said, if you'd take away underlying societal issues, I think the current state of mainstream social media is still harmful in itself simply through the ways it enables you to constantly log on. We'd first have to start banning apps that have predatory features built in, and then figure out a way that these apps can never prey on people - not just kids - ever again. That seems very tough, especially with the lackluster regulation that we have right now.

[bees]

Not a teen but I want to add that in my local policy discourse a lot of (mostly older) folk strongly assert that social media is the reason for the demise of today's youth. Meanwhile, if you look at studies on this, teens identify both positive and negative aspects of their social media usage. And when asked about what causes them most stress, they identify different factors than the presence of their phones. I, too, think social media is just an amplifier of deeper issues within society, not even mentioning that the constant access to internet exposes today's youth to more (sometimes distressing) information than ever before.

That said, if you'd take away underlying societal issues, I think the current state of mainstream social media is still harmful in itself simply through the ways it enables you to constantly log on. We'd first have to start banning apps that have predatory features built in, and then figure out a way that these apps can never prey on people - not just kids - ever again. That seems very tough, especially with the lackluster regulation that we have right now.

I mean, yeah, I've heard both of those. That's why I'd really like to hear from kids themselves about their own experiences and what they'd find helpful. I agree with you, though! I think it's a combination of things. I'd definitely love to see predatory apps getting regulated much much better, both for kids and for adults. The way I see some adults interacting with each other on social media doesn't sound healthy either and it's certainly amplified/normalised certain problems :(

[starbreaker]

What do you think of articles about the connection of social media and mental health?

I think most of them are utter crap, and pushing plausible paranoia and not solid science, but a lot of reporters doing science can't science their way out of a wet paper bag. Most of them seem to be taking Jonathan Haidt as gospel because Jordan Petersen is too obvious a reactionary to be taken seriously, but has anybody who doesn't share his biases replicated his findings?

[kepler-16b]

This thread was started in 2021 and it's 2024 now! I'm glad to say there's been a lot more public discussion about those issues since.

I can't chime in with a personal experience* BUT I have a question. I know there are younger people on this forum who are currently teenagers or were teenagers a meere few years ago. What do you think of articles about the connection of social media and mental health? I recently saw an article that made a lot of sense to me, about the stress caused by social media and the way it can also make it harder for young people, but now I've also seen at least one rebuttal claiming that this is just masking the real underlying issues. Do you think there could be a way for kids to use social media in a healthy manner (by addressing underlying problems) or do you think that's always going to be a thing as long as you have to worry about your "brand" 24/7 and stuff like that?

* I'm too anti-social for social media, I've generally spent the last 15 years mostly avoiding it because it doesn't feel fun to me 

teen here: everyone's experiences are drastically different, so I doubt I alone could answer this for you, but here's my personal experience.

I never had much social media as a younger kid (first social media account at age 13. that was considered very late), and I can tell you, my mental health was significantly worse than people who did. If anything, I almost wish I could have had something somewhere, it might have made for good escapism. my mental health actually improved around the time I got my first social media account (wattpad), but again, that was due to a bunch of other factors, like finally getting a friend group and no longer being bullied. I LOVED wattpad. it gave me community, and opened me up to friendships with people who genuinely shared my interests. I live in a small town. If you live in a small town and don't immediately hit it off with someone, you're not going to ever really make friends. social media let me meet people from across the world.

because I got social medias like wattpad, and later amino and tumblr (which do not put heavy focus on one's IRL life), I've never had to really worry about my "brand". it could be partly because my mom told me never to reveal my name, age or face online (still haven't, probably never will). there might be people who do genuinely care, in fact there almost certainly are, but I am unaware. a lot of people don't even seem to be trying to gain that many followers on their social medias of choice: a lot of accounts which belong to ppl in my year are private. social media, for most, is an extension of their IRL social life, rather than a quest for fame which many seem to make it out to be.

there is something to be said about how social media negatively affects attention span, but that's only tangentially related to the topic at hand.

Social media has its issues. I'm not denying that. but I think we need to consider that the declining mental health of teens probably has a lot of other factors. I have two friends who are avoiding the draft for the Russian/Ukranian conflict. I lived through a global pandemic before I was the recommended age to watch stranger things. I have seen the direct impact of climate change simply by looking outside and comparing it to the previous year. there are a lot of things which are weighing down on my mental health, but social media is very rarely at the top of the list.

[DiffydaDude]

We can help ya if you want! :) Have you checked your phone's screentime log to see your statistics? It's a great way to start grabbing the problem by the horns. I went from 33 hours of screentime in 7 days, to 11 hours the next week, only with like 2-3 adjustments!

sorry for not replying to this thread in forever, i'd be down with that.

[BUTCHBONEZ]

The sad thing is, people on Social Media is so deep into it that I've seen twitter basically deny the fact harms.

Yeah , it sucks. The toxicity , danger , and the corporateness [is that a word? if not it is now] has been normalized. Which just makes it worse.

[bees]

I never had much social media as a younger kid (first social media account at age 13. that was considered very late), and I can tell you, my mental health was significantly worse than people who did. If anything, I almost wish I could have had something somewhere, it might have made for good escapism. my mental health actually improved around the time I got my first social media account (wattpad), but again, that was due to a bunch of other factors, like finally getting a friend group and no longer being bullied. I LOVED wattpad. it gave me community, and opened me up to friendships with people who genuinely shared my interests. I live in a small town. If you live in a small town and don't immediately hit it off with someone, you're not going to ever really make friends. social media let me meet people from across the world.

My experience was similar when I was a teenager. I found it really hard to find people I clicked with in the small town we lived in but forums around specific interests/fandoms helped me remember that I wasn't alone or all that weird for just liking different music or books. :)

I'm guessing a lot of it probably depends on the platforms you join. I didn't share my picture, real name, etc. online back then and I think that helped with expressing myself and feeling less self-conscious about things like dorky hobbies, but it would probably have been different if Instagram had been a thing and everyone at my school had an account or something.  I'm glad you're still having positive experiences and finding nice online communities! 

Maybe it's a bit like politics and other issues, some teenagers seem really aware of things and think more outside the box (For example, you seem aware that global warming is an actual issue that exists and will affect you even more in the future, but I've met teenaged climate change deniers  ), others do not... same as in the past, really, just maybe more amplified.

(Just randomly thinking out loud, sorry for rambling.)

[BUTCHBONEZ]

BUT I have a question. I know there are younger people on this forum who are currently teenagers or were teenagers a meere few years ago. What do you think of articles about the connection of social media and mental health? I recently saw an article that made a lot of sense to me, about the stress caused by social media and the way it can also make it harder for young people, but now I've also seen at least one rebuttal claiming that this is just masking the real underlying issues. Do you think there could be a way for kids to use social media in a healthy manner (by addressing underlying problems) or do you think that's always going to be a thing as long as you have to worry about your "brand" 24/7 and stuff like that?

Yes , I think there is. As a minor who's been on the internet for probably longer than I should've , there have been a few gems. For example scratch, the kids coding program is amazing. It has [heavily supervised] community spaces that I have lots of fond memories of! Social media is incredibly stressful , I used to constantly be worried about "I gotta keep my followers updated". It took a huge toll on my mental health and is a big reason I've struggled with it. Sadly I don't think it's likely that within the next 10 years social media will improve. Sorry about the rant haha

[wygolvillage]

I know there are younger people on this forum who are currently teenagers or were teenagers a meere few years ago. What do you think of articles about the connection of social media and mental health?

I don't think social media causes mental health to lower but I do think that there is correlation.

I think social media is more like a drug. Society under capitalism has become isolating, frustrating and scary, which I think is the underlying cause that results in those with mental health issues turning to the internet and social media as their coping mechanism because it provides short-term distraction. It's addicting and takes advantage of the specific societal factors that cause people to seek it out, so it causes people to lean into unhealthy online behaviours. But it's not the main cause of mental distress among the youth.

[bees]

BUTCHBONEZ and wygolvillage, that makes sense, I feel like social media often brings out the worst in people and there's a lot of pressure and toxicity, so I'm not surprised it exacerbates underlying issues and affects people negatively. BUTCHBONEZ, I'm sorry you went through that! I had no idea Scratch even had a followers feature, it's incredible how even kid-friendly spaces include elements that are just unhelpful in creating a positive atmosphere. You're right about it not improving, though. I don't want to sound pessimistic but social media sites are often designed to engage people, even when it's a negative kind of engagement.