I've got a 12 year old in Australia and the social media ban has been amazing. Since the algorithm-distraction-machine is parasitical on users' social network, the kids just have little interest in it because their social network is not there. They aree making phone calls to each other and riding round each other's houses on bikes.
Older teenagers who already has social media accounts have generally found workarounds, but the young teenagers are just not joining up.
It's been an excellent success story of collective action overcoming the harmful effects of private profit-motivated interests. The tech giants literally could not care less about the mental health of some teenagers in Australia, but their parents do.
It's easy to simply ban one teenager from using social media but removing a teenager from their social network is a date worse than death from their perspective. So once the parasite of social media has infected teenagers' social network and established itself, teenagers were really lumped with the choice of "do I lose contact with my friends or continue using this distraction machine specifically designed to get me hooked?" and they will always choose the latter.
I was skeptical initially, but having experienced the effects, I'm incredibly impressed that for once we have put a red line against foreign private companies harming our citizens.
> I'm incredibly impressed that for once we have put a red line against foreign private companies harming our citizens.
Not enough for you to stop using it though eh? Hacker news, sorry to tell you, is a "distraction machine specifically designed to get (you) hooked". So are books but that's a good kind of distraction obviously.
They said TV rots your brains and the science never followed. I guarantee you this is the same thing as tv-hysteria... it will be shown to be overblown parental hysteria. I'm willing to bet money on the proposition. Social media is so toxic and evil yet the parents are on it everyday, which seems suspicious to me. How does this supposed brainrot not affect the adult brain?
Of course, many countries and states are doing similar things. Don't believe what they tell you, though. It's not about "rotting their brains", it's about social control. It's about keeping them from reading "misinformation" and "disinformation" at an early age, and coming to distrust "official" sources. This buys the government 15 whole years of pure, unadulterated, propaganda. Hope it makes good little citizens. Probably won't, though.
When I was 13-14 I believed a lot of bullshit. You might not remember so, and probably think you were very different and unique and special, but you too were not immune to propaganda.
Ah, the old, "This thing happened to me, and even if other people say it didn't happen to them IT MUST have happened to them and their denial of it just makes me even more justified" argument.
Social media is so, so much worse than anything a government could come up with. This is a good thing for the world even if there are ulterior motives at play.
Massively different from algorithmic doom scrolling feeds.
I would call HN a type of social media lite, but not the type of social media that's leading to generation-wide mental health issues in children/teens.
Yes, social media creates useful idiots, you are correct. And also possibly one of them, if you're arguing that it somehow makes people smarter or more informed.
Right, you're entitled to your wrong opinion. Don't say we didn't warn you when you find out how wrong you were, and what the consequences are regarding government control of people's minds.
Good thing the kids are safe.. from being allowed to use apps or websites with that allow users to communicate.
Thank god we dodged that bullet
I've got a 12 year old in Australia and the social media ban has been amazing. Since the algorithm-distraction-machine is parasitical on users' social network, the kids just have little interest in it because their social network is not there. They aree making phone calls to each other and riding round each other's houses on bikes.
Older teenagers who already has social media accounts have generally found workarounds, but the young teenagers are just not joining up.
It's been an excellent success story of collective action overcoming the harmful effects of private profit-motivated interests. The tech giants literally could not care less about the mental health of some teenagers in Australia, but their parents do.
It's easy to simply ban one teenager from using social media but removing a teenager from their social network is a date worse than death from their perspective. So once the parasite of social media has infected teenagers' social network and established itself, teenagers were really lumped with the choice of "do I lose contact with my friends or continue using this distraction machine specifically designed to get me hooked?" and they will always choose the latter.
I was skeptical initially, but having experienced the effects, I'm incredibly impressed that for once we have put a red line against foreign private companies harming our citizens.
> I'm incredibly impressed that for once we have put a red line against foreign private companies harming our citizens.
Not enough for you to stop using it though eh? Hacker news, sorry to tell you, is a "distraction machine specifically designed to get (you) hooked". So are books but that's a good kind of distraction obviously.
Hardly fair to describe books as a medium designed to get one hooked
You mean apps designed to get kids addicted to scrolling through endless brainrot content?
They said TV rots your brains and the science never followed. I guarantee you this is the same thing as tv-hysteria... it will be shown to be overblown parental hysteria. I'm willing to bet money on the proposition. Social media is so toxic and evil yet the parents are on it everyday, which seems suspicious to me. How does this supposed brainrot not affect the adult brain?
there are other means for communication . you realize how unnecessary these services are once you stop using them
Except you're on it and right now
Of course, many countries and states are doing similar things. Don't believe what they tell you, though. It's not about "rotting their brains", it's about social control. It's about keeping them from reading "misinformation" and "disinformation" at an early age, and coming to distrust "official" sources. This buys the government 15 whole years of pure, unadulterated, propaganda. Hope it makes good little citizens. Probably won't, though.
Because everyone uncritically accepted government propaganda before social media came around?
When I was 13-14 I believed a lot of bullshit. You might not remember so, and probably think you were very different and unique and special, but you too were not immune to propaganda.
Ah, the old, "This thing happened to me, and even if other people say it didn't happen to them IT MUST have happened to them and their denial of it just makes me even more justified" argument.
What’s this, the old “I’m too smart for propaganda to work on me?”
when i was 13-14 i was taught by the youtube algorithm to hate women and "SJWs"
this is, in my opinion, worse than goverment propaganda
Nice strawman, I guess?
Social media is so, so much worse than anything a government could come up with. This is a good thing for the world even if there are ulterior motives at play.
You're on it right now, this terrible, evil social media. Vaguely defined as it is
Massively different from algorithmic doom scrolling feeds.
I would call HN a type of social media lite, but not the type of social media that's leading to generation-wide mental health issues in children/teens.
I also don’t think people under 15 should use Hacker News.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Useful_idiot
Yes, social media creates useful idiots, you are correct. And also possibly one of them, if you're arguing that it somehow makes people smarter or more informed.
Right, you're entitled to your wrong opinion. Don't say we didn't warn you when you find out how wrong you were, and what the consequences are regarding government control of people's minds.