Interesting article about something we should definitely be having a conversation about.<p>But i want to point out an anecdote: we have a newborn and we share pics of her privately with fam. All the pics are of her good moments: her first smiles, her just being cute, etc... We don't share pics or videos of her screaming her lungs out, or of her diaper explosions, which intuitively woul be weird.<p>Reading this article it sounds like we are doing ourselves a disservice by not sharing the bad. Like we're not being honest with ourselves or our family. But are we? isn't the point of memories to preserve the good ones? The printed photo albums my parents have of my childhood don't have any pictures of me having a meltdown. There is a saying among mothers that you forget the pain of childbirth otherwise you'd never have a second child.<p>I'm sure social media makes things worse by being too present in people's self esteem but I am not sure memories have to preserve the downsides of reality.
Facebook is playing a very dangerous game by not allowing people full control of their feeds and even algorithmically sorting things. That's different from just "social media", it's a specifically Facebook way of doing things
I think this type of depression that is supposedly a response to social media is simply a symptom of something that would have manifested itself with or without being plugged in.<p>One might write a novel on the subject, but humans are easily dissatisfied. We chase after things we think we want, but are really unfulfilling. Many of us lack a true calling. We travel to exotic places and buy expensive things only to realize that the hedonistic treadmill is real.
Facebook is the "cigarettes" of our era. It's addictive, and evidence that regular use is detrimental to our well-being is mounting.<p>Strangely, it's also what we do at parties when we're bored.
I'm all for burning Facebook to the ground but the rise in the use of antidepressants started well before modern social media.<p>It does look associated with alienation, so does travelling alone, but social media use is probably a result of loneliness, an attempt to connect however feeble, not its cause.
I'd like to see studies of how social media affects different personalities types. My intuition is that the negative effect can manifest in different ways. For example a person that has social anxiety in real life, let's say because is unconsciously worried about how to behave socially, maybe because the fear of rejection or being bullied by the group.
This person would post probably close to zero, and avoid public comments, while being very anxious while waiting for a private response. I think the effect in this case, is that the person becomes even more isolated and even less social.
Because these people can manage still in small groups of 4 to 5 people but I think on average we have 300 facebook "friends", that might not be manageable.
And the extroverts would engage reactively only to other extroverts, causing other type of harms.
That's my intuition from my direct observations.
I'm happier and healthier that these conversations are happening; I'm not alone.<p>Facebook is clearly problematic, and I've been suspicious of the negative effects of Instagram and Hinge (dating app). The former would make me jealous/depressed/frustrated as I compare myself to glimpses of my peers supposedly winning at life. The latter would make me less outgoing in real life, b/c somehow flipping through dating profiles satisfied an underlying desire to meet new people.<p>I highly recommend Johann Hari's work: "Lost Connections" book [1], Sam Harris and Ezra Klein podcast episodes [2, 3], TED talk [4].<p>[1] <a href="https://thelostconnections.com/" rel="nofollow">https://thelostconnections.com/</a><p>[2] <a href="https://samharris.org/podcasts/142-addiction-depression-meaningful-life/" rel="nofollow">https://samharris.org/podcasts/142-addiction-depression-mean...</a><p>[3] <a href="https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/vox/the-ezra-klein-show/e/54111398" rel="nofollow">https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/vox/the-ezra-klein-show/e/5...</a><p>[4] <a href="https://www.ted.com/talks/johann_hari_everything_you_think_you_know_about_addiction_is_wrong?language=en" rel="nofollow">https://www.ted.com/talks/johann_hari_everything_you_think_y...</a>
Malaclypse: Everyone is hurting eachother, the planet is rampant with injustices, whole societies plunder groups of their own people, mothers imprison sons, children perish while brothers war.<p>The Goddess: What is the matter with that, if it's what you want to do?<p>Malaclypse: But nobody wants it! Everybody hates it!<p>The Goddess: Oh. Well, then stop.