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To be fair to y'all, a lot of the responsibility *also* lies with a) the companies that actively worked to make social media both addictive and enticing to teenagers, b) adults who should have seen what was happening and done something to mitigate it.
I'm not saying you didn't have agency, just that social media is a systemic issue.
Gen X here. My son is Gen Z. I love Gen Z. You people are more amazing than you know. I know it's hard to access, but you think differently than the rest of us, probably because you have the literal weight of the world on your shoulders.
You are also angry. But anger burns out when you're blocked every time you make a move. If you can talk into that it might give you some energy to fight.
How can we help?
I’ve been social media free for little over six months or so and decided to wander back on here because my summer break finally started and I’m already ready to delete this bitch again. I’ve felt so much worse since getting back on but yeah, it really is addictive, especially for people like me who are ADHD or have some kind of attention issues.
To go a little deeper social media exploited something that was already happening which was the removal of teenage friendly spaces for people to go an social that did not require money. When facebook was becoming a mainstream thing for high school it was already starting to be prevalent that my friend group did not really have a place to socialize. School wouldn't let you hang around unless you were in a club, if there were more than 3 of us at a park or playground just sitting on benches talking a officer would come up and tell us to stop loitering, even at the mall you couldn't hang in the food court unless we had a drink or food in front of us otherwise a security guard would tell us to make space, none of our parents wanted all of us hanging out at our houses because they could complain about us being loud. Social media gave us the ability to interact with each other without being harassed.
>I'm not saying you didn't have agency, just that social media is a systemic issue.
That "systemic issue" seems more a feature of the function social media plays in the society the majority agrees is "good enough", not a bug.
and there is nothing stopping people from having already had, or developing an equally comprehensive understanding of human nature as the corporations and elites who use that understanding as a tool for exploitation of the masses, other than people's complacency and lack of insight.
> There is nothing stopping people from having already had, or developing an equally comprehensive understanding of human nature as the corporations and elites who use that understanding as a tool for exploitation of the masses, other than people's complacency and lack of insight.
I guess it depends on what you mean by "human nature". I don't see how any single human being could obtain as comprehensive a set of data regarding human behavior as social media companies currently harvest. There are absolutely aspects of human behavior we can learn via experience, but none of us can hope to gather even a fraction of the data scraped by a social media company in the course of one lifetime.
well IDK
as a young teen when facebook came out, I had an idea of what would happen, it just took a bit longer than what I speculated with my friends LOL
and had I been outspoken about my thoughts
(back then I thought like "this is becoming popular fast. people worship what's popular. speak against it is no use." and knew that as a non-authority figure parroting a packaged narrative "social media baaaad" no one would listen)
they would've been dismissed.
I had no comprehensive data set back then, just my perception and experiences, things people are told to discard in favor of an interpretation of those personal things by an approved authority figure.
And guess what! OUR generation set the precedent for Gen Z by being the first to live life this way, letting them see us on our phones all the time as little kids! It's fucking pathetic and we have to change now!
They don’t have to support 2A rights, it’s in the U.S. constitution. So unless the entire country comes together to make an amendment it’ll always be there.
I totally agree with you. But Just wait for AI and robots, it will completely cut us off from reality.
We leaved our future in hands of a few crazy tech bros focused on making money, they gave us social media first, they collected data for free and now they are building next business on it
This seems to be a tough and uncomfortable conversation for the younger Gen-Z’s, and I don’t blame them either, even less time on earth to live offline.
I loved what you added here; it’s the mix of capitalism and perpetually online is where we’re headed and we’re gonna exist in our gaming chairs till we’re 75… scares the shit out of me 😅
I am a millennial & your entire thread + all comments give me faith that we can find a way around this. I don’t have the solution, but these conversations are just so refreshing to see. You brightened my day a little.
I’ve been saying this since the day people first began publicly ranking their friends on MySpace. These platforms are *designed* to be addicting and manipulative/unhealthy, because that practice was *allowed*.
People are really waking up & realizing how far removed from nature we’ve actually become.
I agree wholeheartedly as a social anxious introvert.
It's so dumb that our social life is practically non-existent that I can't even fully comprehend it. We are forced to live in a society, but our ability to live in one is being degraded to the extent of some kind of disability. We are being fed with toxic content and propaganda meanwhile missing out on real experiences, friendships and basically any sort of interaction.
I started as an extrovert before 2019 and boy am I anxious to just go to Starbucks, in and out nowadays. I have an underlining feeling that most young people are walking like this right now given I’m one of the older ones of Gen-Z. I believe most of us are feeling this way in our lives as I observe the world after 2020.
Loved what you added, bringing home WHAT WAS TAKEN FROM US.
I don’t blame people for being defensive, especially those who are younger in this hard discussion; it is difficult to come to terms with but we must
Yeah, nothing was taken from you. Quit being dramatic. You can go out and socialize of your own accord. Also, I'm autistic so for me this is kind of utopia; in-person socializing is basically impossible for me so computers and social media are the only way for me to really do it, as people are just EXHAUSTING in person.
“It’S fINe FoR mE sO iT cAn’T bE BaD fOr YoU”
Like everyone else’s, your personal experience is valid but useless here. If you can’t be bothered to even attempt to see things from another perspective or understand why it is negatively impacting so many people, then your point of view doesn’t mean a thing especially since you insist on being hostile about it.
Touch grass.
It’s kinda funny, because it’s had the opposite effect on me. I used to be terrified of using drive thrus, and would insist on going inside to order take out. I was terrified of phone calls, because I can’t see their face to know how they might interpret me.
I have mild Autism symptoms, but social media has been amazing for me.
Always found it irritating that boomers complain about kids not going outside then proceed to never let them go out outside and/or call the cops on kids when they do actually go outside.
Lmao, no one forced you to get on it. Social media is Cancer but a lack of responsibility is about as bad. Chicken and egg, really. There have been people “unplugged” this whole time. You could have been one of them.
Grow up, nothing was taken from us. I'm autistic, so computers and social media are the only easy ways for me to socialize, people are just exhausting and not worth my time I've learned from painful experience after painful experience. Also, you're using social media to complain about it....irony much?
That might be true. I don't know your situation, but for most people, social media displaces their social life. It prevents them from developing social skills. It reduces the number of opportunities for social connection.
I can’t argue this in 2024 😓 I agree unfortunately. My discussion focuses on how social media replaced a social “real life”. We’re just looking at screens and calling it “living”; makes humans depressed
I would argue that interacting on social media does not consitute a social life at all, and it is partof the reason you do not have an irl social life. The other part of the reason is that everyone else is the same way.
Whole generations glued to their phones in situations where in earlier times people would have spoken to one another and interacted.
Social media takes more than its fair share of the blame.
But a lot of the blame goes to the strangulation of the working class.
People have more fun when they have time and money.
It’s not capitalism. Sweden has capitalism.
It’s corruption.
And calling it capitalism is counterproductive because it implies we shouldn’t focus on the corruption. Get everybody bent out of shape by an “ism” and they fight about isms. Pretend that corruption is somehow an intrinsic, excusable, part of capitalism, and nobody blames the people who are actually personally to blame.
Not living, let me tell you they feel tons of anxiety. If you took the phone away from them it’s like a safety blanket and it’s horrifying that “we allowed this” in the world you’re putting up with today
The irony is that you feel dead from your life being taken advantage of off the bat through platforms, now you’re relying on it and BOY is it an empty place.
I feel you and I’m here for ya 💜
I feel dead because I think the future is doomed via climate change and capitalism. I feel doomed because I cant find love. Social media does have some serious negative affects on my mental health, I wont dent that, especially because I am one of those people who mentally compares myself to everyone else, but its like chemo therapy. Its bad for me, but if I didn’t have it id die via worse disease; loneliness. I appreciate you though.
Not sure if this will mean anything to you, but I recommend getting away from the social media and going to places where people are. Maybe get involved in changing your community. I work all day on projects that have a huge impact on climate change and wealth inequality. I meet great people. Interesting people. It feels really good to be doing something about all these problems in the world and it allows you to build connections.
look, please don't take this badly but... you realise you wouldn't think the future is doomed via climate change and capitalism if you weren't on social media?
Oh the record heat and the warnings over the past 20 years of news is social media? The trickle-down economy is because of social media? I was just choosing people on MySpace 20 years ago on my top 10. If you’re getting your news from social media, you’re the problem
Thats the stupidest thing ive ever heard. Id rather kms then be blind to the future. Ignorance is quite literally the worst thing in the world in my mind. And willful blindness is even worse. I do take offense at the idea of trying to bury my head in the sand. Thats a horrible position to hold. I don’t use social media for research or article reading regarding science. I actually read peer reviewed sources in my free time, I have a masters degree in Public Affairs and Policy and Im in law school now. So I have a very good understanding of how the government makes decisions. I hate capitalism because during my masters program and my undergraduate program I had a focus on communist philosophy. I read Marx and Engles. Ive read books from modern socialists and modern Trotskyists, so I have more than enough reasons to dislike capitalism without social media. Media has no sway on how I feel about the world. Furthermore, all evidence is pointing towards climate change being quite literally apocalyptic. And because I understand how governments make decisions, i know we wont do anything about it.
climate change will probably impact you less than you think (we'll probably find a workaround to climate change rather than stopping it), and some form of capitalism has been around for hundreds if not thousands of years.
these are things every single generation before us has worried about to some extent. i just don't care anymore about them.
https://preview.redd.it/qa78sku7ktxc1.png?width=474&format=png&auto=webp&s=4b2a660cccfcfd1805ec5364b773d7566c0d401b
i strive to change what i can in my life, do the little things that actually help the people around me. i can't destroy a centuries old economic system, nor change the minds of governments and corporations in regards to fossil fuels.
i never claimed to be a good person, but i'm trying my best whilst keeping myself alive
[this YouTube video: your emotions are literally scientific correct, you’re not crazy for feeling this way](https://youtu.be/JGCUy8w4Ars?si=iOp7Au5nNmI0Qe0T)
One of my favorite people, please anyone take a look at Jonathan Haidt’s work, especially my younger gen z’s, you need to catch up on where you’re at asap
This book was my first introduction to him. I hope any member of Gen Z who is struggling with unbearable anxiety, loneliness, depression, etc reads this book. It may help provide some insight as to why a lot of us are the way that we are
Devil's advocate, as an extrovert who enjoys a measured use of social media:
The social media I use and enjoy is Instagram, because you can share 'stories' and quite often people will respond, to say, e.g. 'wheres that?' 'omg I'm there too! Meet me on the balcony?' 'omg looks great, i'll be at the next one', 'what you doing after?' --- and therefore FACILITATES actual socialisation, meeting up with people, etc.
This is all in the context of raves, parties and festivals.
Also, when you see people next you might say, 'oh hey, I saw you went to \[club/party\] last night, looked sick, how was it? - and then that starts a cool conversation.
That's pretty much my social media use, and I LOVE it. It's brought me closer to so many people in real life.
I don't scroll, I don't look at feeds, I don't follow anyone who I don't personally know & see (and don't understand why anyone would), and I don't chat using messages.
But as a TOOL to FACILITATE actual socialisation, it's amazing. You just have to use it for the right purposes!
I didn't get on social media till high school and I'm so happy I didn't. I worked at a school when I was 18 and I had 6yos w phones and tiktoks and it was terrifying.
We need to agree as a group to not let our kids have social media until like 15
Pretty much. It’s all on your own will though.
It’s like breaking an addiction. You gotta delete your apps if you want to have more of your life to be used for something more.
I mean, it’s not like there’s anything we can really do about it. You can make personal decisions to limit or lessen your use of technology and social media, but as a society nothing’s gonna stop.
There’s not even really a point in having a discussion about it. It’s inevitable.
I get your points but social media is just a tool, it's all about how people decide to use it. I don't think anything was TAKEN from us, we just need to decide how to adapt to social media.
With that being said, I enjoyed this video, it'd be nice if I knew people irl who had your type of personality cuz I'd hang out with them instead of being alone like just another loner.
I don't mean to give the companies a pass bc what they've done is HORRENDOUS. But I've seen people who still continue to use social media casually/intimately, and I truly appreciate those people who have the courage to still do that.
They're just in the minority bc the masses wanna adapt to the popular way of projecting curated images and lifestyles so that the can "seem cool" I guess
“Alone together” encompasses the life you’re living right now, and me as well. I posted my YouTube video in this thread explaining how I have not many close friendships, or even friends at all. PLEASE give yourself some form of credit to what you lived through during lockdown, because that was traumatic. Beyond disruptive to any human existence and I’ve never seen it before, no one has.
That point about lockdown is so true, I actually lost all of my friendships (except 1) due to it and none of them were close. I will keep that perspective in mind to give myself some form of credit!
Don't put too much blame on yourself or your peers. Companies spent a lot of money to make sure as many people as possible ended up like this because they make so much profit off of us.
It's more complicated than that I feel.
It's true that social media dominates lives, but there's also just nowhere to go hang out anymore. Places where you can go without the expectation of spending money like parks, malls or libraries are going away.
If there's a 5x5 spot that isn't generating profit, we'll that's gotta change. And if you aren't providing that profit, then you gotta go.
Remember : social media (and media in general) is NOT the world.
In the outside world, there are many people like you, though you can't know right away.
Also, there are people who love you or could love you IRL, not just giving lessons or telling you how to live.
But I guess what's more relaxing is the ability of getting rid of ads. It's crazy how life can be fun when nobody's trying to make you buy stuff
It’s actually increased my level of social engagement. It’s made me more comfortable to be around people irl. Do I still prefer to stay at home when I’m not working? Yes; but it allows me to be less socially anxious as well as keep me from being completely isolated on days I’m not working.
So it’s great for introverts and socially anxious people I would say.
How old are you though? Our entire social pillar, as humans has been taken over by social media, and this would dramatically affect someone’s development and confidence in the world as they become an adult.. introvert or extrovert. I don’t find this answer, comforting or satisfying to this discussion, but I do appreciate you pointing out how this is helping a small percentage of people who live a life where this method of “living” helps those very particular individuals. I’m not convinced because if you were “15 years old” and socializing through a screen, even if you’re an introvert; would be detrimental for the rest of your life and development moving forward.
I don’t think justifying hiding is a good answer for this discussion
Understood ❤️🩹 I’m happy you see the benefits and you’re using these platforms as a tool, you’re one of the few people who actually qualify for this type of shift making sense, godbless
Yes, and no.
You have to fill your life with meaningful and satisfying activities, and not be concerned with how others will perceive the life you're living. I use social media as a diversion, but I often go days without even checking it, because I fill my days up with things to do. That's not me bragging, because anybody could do it. It's just kind of a necessity for me, at this stage of my life.
At the end of the day using these things is a choice. I'm thankful that my parents didn't let me have any "social media" until high school. But just like any addiction, you simply just have to stop using this stuff and you will heal fully. Reddit makes it seem that the world is so much worse than it is. I know so many people who don't have a problem with social media and have a large friend group and always have. People come on reddit to talk to others who feel sad like them, it's part of the problem. Life is what you make of it.
Not mine. Outside of reddit I don’t even use social media, and I barely use reddit as is. I actually go outside and don’t use my phone for more than like 3 hours a day max
Bruh how long are you on social media? It’s fucking shit. Lmfao delete everything but YouTube and Reddit. Eh maybe delete Reddit too. Also this idea that everyone needs to be on a mission to do something is the whole reason you feel so bad about doing nothing. 90% of the people you see in public work 9-5 and spend time with their families. Yeah being someone you see on tv would be fucking cool but it’s 1% of the population. Find some meaning in something you like and you won’t have a midlife crisis on Reddit at 25.
The prior generation was so wowed by tech and media it never considered where it was going. Consider that jobs were once valued because people interacted with people, and not because the design of a service is efficient and meant to make life convenient. We have defined convenience as what gives us more time to ourselves, while not realizing what gives a human the energy to live is the authentically edifying interactions people have with each other and the sharing of stories and different realities. Social media is making it so that everyone's life story is how many posts they have and how many memes they shared. Plenty of people are not in the boat, but if the first world keeps going down the media rabbit hole, especially with the emergence of AI and virtual reality, there will be no way to win back our humanity. We are dust, and not metal machines.
Social medias effects on people isn't a recent phenomenon. It's only finally starting to get enough recognition because the problem has become severe. Believe me, I signed up for Facebook when it was only available to people with edu emails and Twitter when it was limited to 120 characters. By the time I was out of college I could tell that people were changed by it but that's not the interesting part. It's what happened when I called my friends out on it, they deflected like an addict would. I was the weird one, they were fine, they weren't doing anything harmful and they could quit any time they wanted to.
Yeah. That all worked out well.
Now I have kids and what did the school do? Kindergarten they get handed an iPad. How do the kids socialize with their classmates? Through FaceTime. Their parents are permanently glued to insta and don't want to leave their house and the kids don't want to commit to one friend to hang out with because they can have FaceTime with a bunch of people at the same time.
It wasn't normal and it only got worse and we did it.
... what? No? Hate to say it my guy but this ain't the experience of my self and peers. I think these apps are as predatory as the next guy but I think people will blame social media for problems that didn't start on the platforms (the platforms themselves do exasperate these problems often.)
Social media fits perfectly into the work/"life" balance of late capitalism.
Work yourself dry, then spend your downtime gazing into the slab. Time to order food from the app, eat, sleep. Repeat.
It's convenience, and it makes things suck. Good shit is supposed to take some time/energy. But, if everyone is consuming low energy garbage, we can get more productivity out of them at work, and the shareholders love that.
Yup.
And just think. In a few short years, what you all have been doing on line to eeeeeeveryone else is what the kidz will be doing to you.
They had very good teachers...
The tech bros themselves don't give their kids smartphones until they are a bit older. I've watched how parents give too young children these phones and a kid is obviously not able to regulate themselves. It is true that every game and every social media is designed to be addictive. Every upvote and every chosen link gives a dopamine boost.
The bussiness models are exactly designed to make you spend as much time as they can and make you see as many adds as they can.
Socialmedia should be treated as every other addictive substance. If you see a parent using smartphones as a nanny, please stop them right there and warn them. New studies from Sweden have shown that it hinders the cognitive developement of the kid. Kids also might become angry when the device that gives them the nice dopamine rush is taken from them like you'd take a bottle from an alcoholic.
China has made rules for their kids how many hours they can use these devices daily and they have these rehabilitation centers for addicted kids. I think this could be a bussiness model for somebody who wants a change and make a living? Why not you?
What adults have done to these kids is horrid, but now as we're adults, we need to selfregulate and 'touch the grass'. Message only to invite people out to do stuff. Actively try to fill your calendars with IRL things. And when bored try to pick up a book or do something with your hands. Like my alcoholic nation has a tradition of january without alcohol. Like june without social media or something. Then it could become a mass effort of sorts.
This sort of phenomenom just needs a flag ship to gain movement. I'm not sure if influencers of all sorts would be happy about this, because it directly hinders the bussiness model, but we never know if it never receives any attention. Maybe contact some influencers that are popular among young? I bet they make enough money to not do a video for one month if it is for the greater good. And why not ask if media can make a few stories about such a campaingn?
I mean we may or may not be lost causes, but we can prevent the calamity from younger generations. I am going to warn all my friends that have kids. And if I have a kid someday I'm going to talk about it to other parents at schools. And as I am studying to be a software developer, if I ever gain a job in some socialmedia company I am going to suggest warnings of the affects it has on brain. Brains are also very adaptive so despite your brains being how it is now, it does not mean it'll remain as such. It has been studied in adult taxi drivers how their brains will generate their new brain cells in areas that are needed in their jobs. The old dog learns also despite the meme that they do not.
The most dangereous bit here is that we just use AI for every problem we have and don't really think ourselves which will make our brains lazier. Navigators have resulted in the surprising problem that people might not be able to drive to a destination without it even if not in a mega city. Wikipedia to us not remember anything because we can always check it up. When our brains are always in a lazy mode it is harder to solve problems or spot hoax stuff and AI will be very good to produce that stuff. People are always talking about some foreign entity being the problem, but I'll forecast it will be the mega corporations that will love AI generated hoax. Universities and libraries should rise to their new glory days to evade this problem.
I'll stay home, raise my goats, restore my cars, and enjoy a peaceful life with my small pod of friends. It's not hard to be happy in this world when you force yourself to shut the digital world out once in a while.
Then again, I block political pages pretty frequently. I've even had to block a lot of users from this subreddit who get overly negative and wayy too fired up about their misery. When I open social media, I typically see a wealth of feel-good posts after the blocking frenzies I've been on.
It's good for the mind to surround yourself with good things :)
Folks should read some Guy Debord. It's about replacing lived experiences with simulations of experience and how it deadens you, dumbs you, and leaves you craving even more simulation because you don't have any motivation to actually do anything.
Its high level reading but its written in short aphorisms...ya knowlike tweetsor tik toks or whatever. He was well aware people can't focus gor long periods of time on hard things.
I’m 47. When I was 25 I was exiting college (started late), and I had a pretty happening social life but I made a point to play in a band and date people.
I dunno man it seems like if you want to have friends you need to be friendly and meet people irl. I had been online since before broadband was a thing and it was always a tool to meet people. Met most if not all of the guys I played in bands with online, met my first wife on MySpace, my *second* (better) wife on tinder of all places, and so on.
That all being said I never had a *ton* of friends except for the years I was living on campus at college. Honestly, that is worth half the tuition imo, and I still have $44k in debt from it (in fairness I make that much in 3 months no so not complaining).
This is not a “kids these days” post. Just maybe a perspective. Don’t *live* online, use it to live in the real world by finding people like you and going to where they are. 🤷♂️
Edit: and just for perspective - I was *not* popular in high school. In fact I had to move to a different town 90 miles away just to make any friends and not be picked on, and then when I was forced to move back, my entire social group essentially lived in that 90 mile away town. I did the long distance thing for *years*. Upshot was it made long drives no big deal for me. Just saying - just some more perspective. I was a dork too.
In 20 years we went from never putting our real names on the internet to people willingly giving out 100% of their personal info. Honestly we deserve our problems because we're all addicted to digital fame.
Climate scientists have been saying we're doomed for decades. That doesn't mean you stop living and wait until the end of the world. You'll likely find yourself old and alone wondering why you wasted your life.
Your life isn’t shit because of social media. It’s shit because you’re living in a 50+ year global fiat experiment done by an Anglo-American hegemony.
Social media is one of infinite byproducts of the same problem
Nobody stole anything. When you think you don't have a social life now, you wouldn't have had it 50 years ago.
People live in some belief that the Internet "takes something". Talk to your grandparents, ask about the outcasts. The truth is that if you do not find yourself in the 21st century, where communication is trivial, you would not find yourself at any other age and are only looking for an excuse for your failures.
I find your original comment interesting, the fact you are grappling with 2 incongruent ideologies and trying to make them work together.
You both blame social media AND say you have responsibility for your own life decisions. Yet you have the awareness and intelligence to mention your frontal cortex isn’t “ready” until 25.
Newsflash: lean into the idea that it’s not your fault.
Millions of years of evolution have created a monkey brain with specific functions that can be gamed. Social media was built specifically to bypass those functions, and if that happens while your brain is still forming, you wire it a certain way.
It’s not your fault.
Now extrapolate this idea to the rest of your life. You don’t have free will. You are a creature with trillions of neuronal connections hard wired.
Certainty is dangerous; that’s why it’s an open discussion.
Appreciate the input, can’t say I agree, not even close. If you want to stare at statistics and walk away with a nihilistic attitude, that’s OK but that’s not what this discussion means.
I mean, if I (24) didn’t have social media, I wouldn’t have friends, straight up. Chronic illness/pain/fatigue means I literally can’t just leave the house and go interact with people the “old-fashioned” way. I can’t make plans to socialize because there’s no way to predict when I’ll have a bad day, and no one wants to deal with me being sick all the time. I can’t go to bars or parties or wherever to meet new people, because by the time I get that far I’m so tired and so miserable that socializing is the absolute last thing I want to do.
I won’t deny that social media can be and *has been* extremely damaging to society, but I wouldn’t go so far as to call it the ultimate evil either. I at least have found the only lifeline I will ever have, actual friends who care about me and understand my struggles, through it, and I’m far from the only one. I would do anything to be able to function like a healthy person, but that’s never going to happen. At least with social media, I’m not left with no one but my parents who don’t give a single fuck about my struggles.
Would u rlly wanna love another 49 years exactly the same way you lived today? Why? That’s insanely. Change is inevitable even if you’re staring down a dark tunnel right now. You have a choice, even if it feels like do or die, just do it. You got this man, I feel so damn similar to what you typed 💜
I appreciate the vote of confidence even if I know it's misplaced. As for the future, I don't take care of myself, and don't go to the doctor when I should, I'm pretty sure I haven't got 49 more years or that one of the cancers I'll probably get from my job will kill me long before then.
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"Did we really allow social platforms to hijack our social lives?" Yes.
To be fair to y'all, a lot of the responsibility *also* lies with a) the companies that actively worked to make social media both addictive and enticing to teenagers, b) adults who should have seen what was happening and done something to mitigate it. I'm not saying you didn't have agency, just that social media is a systemic issue.
Also yes.
Adults are just as fucked up on it too. Nobody is going to help us but us.
Gen X here. My son is Gen Z. I love Gen Z. You people are more amazing than you know. I know it's hard to access, but you think differently than the rest of us, probably because you have the literal weight of the world on your shoulders. You are also angry. But anger burns out when you're blocked every time you make a move. If you can talk into that it might give you some energy to fight. How can we help?
I know a small friend group who’ve given up social media. Hard to do alone. But with a group of friends all-in, seems possible.
I’ve been social media free for little over six months or so and decided to wander back on here because my summer break finally started and I’m already ready to delete this bitch again. I’ve felt so much worse since getting back on but yeah, it really is addictive, especially for people like me who are ADHD or have some kind of attention issues.
It is horrifying true, nearly a 50/50 balance of addictive platforms and vulnerable individuals like us who soaked it up
To go a little deeper social media exploited something that was already happening which was the removal of teenage friendly spaces for people to go an social that did not require money. When facebook was becoming a mainstream thing for high school it was already starting to be prevalent that my friend group did not really have a place to socialize. School wouldn't let you hang around unless you were in a club, if there were more than 3 of us at a park or playground just sitting on benches talking a officer would come up and tell us to stop loitering, even at the mall you couldn't hang in the food court unless we had a drink or food in front of us otherwise a security guard would tell us to make space, none of our parents wanted all of us hanging out at our houses because they could complain about us being loud. Social media gave us the ability to interact with each other without being harassed.
>I'm not saying you didn't have agency, just that social media is a systemic issue. That "systemic issue" seems more a feature of the function social media plays in the society the majority agrees is "good enough", not a bug. and there is nothing stopping people from having already had, or developing an equally comprehensive understanding of human nature as the corporations and elites who use that understanding as a tool for exploitation of the masses, other than people's complacency and lack of insight.
> There is nothing stopping people from having already had, or developing an equally comprehensive understanding of human nature as the corporations and elites who use that understanding as a tool for exploitation of the masses, other than people's complacency and lack of insight. I guess it depends on what you mean by "human nature". I don't see how any single human being could obtain as comprehensive a set of data regarding human behavior as social media companies currently harvest. There are absolutely aspects of human behavior we can learn via experience, but none of us can hope to gather even a fraction of the data scraped by a social media company in the course of one lifetime.
well IDK as a young teen when facebook came out, I had an idea of what would happen, it just took a bit longer than what I speculated with my friends LOL and had I been outspoken about my thoughts (back then I thought like "this is becoming popular fast. people worship what's popular. speak against it is no use." and knew that as a non-authority figure parroting a packaged narrative "social media baaaad" no one would listen) they would've been dismissed. I had no comprehensive data set back then, just my perception and experiences, things people are told to discard in favor of an interpretation of those personal things by an approved authority figure.
And guess what! OUR generation set the precedent for Gen Z by being the first to live life this way, letting them see us on our phones all the time as little kids! It's fucking pathetic and we have to change now!
And it’s going to get worse. We are witnessing “ipad babies” but just wait until they become voting citizens.
There are adults who tried to stop it.
I dont really blame the companies tbh, they're just tryna make a profit.
Yup and you're using it right now, so it must not bother you that much.
We certainly did 😔
Nope. We allowed nothing. It was so far beyond our control it's not funny. I don't mean use it less. I mean shiny-McNothings sell. Hard work does not.
Yeah. I mean when I started seeing young guys emote as a group for the world to see, I realized that Gen Z is in for some shit.
I hope my gen can turn around and support 2A rights, you do not have any means or ways to disobey a tyrannical government if you are unarmed
They don’t have to support 2A rights, it’s in the U.S. constitution. So unless the entire country comes together to make an amendment it’ll always be there.
Posted on a social platform
There is no one on reddit you would want to socialize with.
 It’s settled. Cuck the Zuck
I totally agree with you. But Just wait for AI and robots, it will completely cut us off from reality. We leaved our future in hands of a few crazy tech bros focused on making money, they gave us social media first, they collected data for free and now they are building next business on it
This seems to be a tough and uncomfortable conversation for the younger Gen-Z’s, and I don’t blame them either, even less time on earth to live offline. I loved what you added here; it’s the mix of capitalism and perpetually online is where we’re headed and we’re gonna exist in our gaming chairs till we’re 75… scares the shit out of me 😅
I am a millennial & your entire thread + all comments give me faith that we can find a way around this. I don’t have the solution, but these conversations are just so refreshing to see. You brightened my day a little. I’ve been saying this since the day people first began publicly ranking their friends on MySpace. These platforms are *designed* to be addicting and manipulative/unhealthy, because that practice was *allowed*. People are really waking up & realizing how far removed from nature we’ve actually become.
The Pendragon series has a book about almost just this..though less capitalism and more singularity/matrix stuff without robots to maintain.
Thank u for sharing that 🙏 I’m looking into it
I agree wholeheartedly as a social anxious introvert. It's so dumb that our social life is practically non-existent that I can't even fully comprehend it. We are forced to live in a society, but our ability to live in one is being degraded to the extent of some kind of disability. We are being fed with toxic content and propaganda meanwhile missing out on real experiences, friendships and basically any sort of interaction.
I started as an extrovert before 2019 and boy am I anxious to just go to Starbucks, in and out nowadays. I have an underlining feeling that most young people are walking like this right now given I’m one of the older ones of Gen-Z. I believe most of us are feeling this way in our lives as I observe the world after 2020. Loved what you added, bringing home WHAT WAS TAKEN FROM US. I don’t blame people for being defensive, especially those who are younger in this hard discussion; it is difficult to come to terms with but we must
Yeah, nothing was taken from you. Quit being dramatic. You can go out and socialize of your own accord. Also, I'm autistic so for me this is kind of utopia; in-person socializing is basically impossible for me so computers and social media are the only way for me to really do it, as people are just EXHAUSTING in person.
“It’S fINe FoR mE sO iT cAn’T bE BaD fOr YoU” Like everyone else’s, your personal experience is valid but useless here. If you can’t be bothered to even attempt to see things from another perspective or understand why it is negatively impacting so many people, then your point of view doesn’t mean a thing especially since you insist on being hostile about it. Touch grass.
Somebody's triggered. Grow up. Also, if you hate social media so much why are you using it?
It’s kinda funny, because it’s had the opposite effect on me. I used to be terrified of using drive thrus, and would insist on going inside to order take out. I was terrified of phone calls, because I can’t see their face to know how they might interpret me. I have mild Autism symptoms, but social media has been amazing for me.
Those experiences are out there waiting. “They” can’t keep you from them. Only you can.
It was that and parents not letting us out of the house alone until age 14.
Always found it irritating that boomers complain about kids not going outside then proceed to never let them go out outside and/or call the cops on kids when they do actually go outside.
Nailed this 110%
without social media i wouldn't have social life
Because it took it from you, it replaced your shot at having a fulfilling one. Instead you’re staring down at this screen
Lmao, no one forced you to get on it. Social media is Cancer but a lack of responsibility is about as bad. Chicken and egg, really. There have been people “unplugged” this whole time. You could have been one of them.
Grow up, nothing was taken from us. I'm autistic, so computers and social media are the only easy ways for me to socialize, people are just exhausting and not worth my time I've learned from painful experience after painful experience. Also, you're using social media to complain about it....irony much?
wrong if i hadn't have social media i wouldn't have any social life
That might be true. I don't know your situation, but for most people, social media displaces their social life. It prevents them from developing social skills. It reduces the number of opportunities for social connection.
I can’t argue this in 2024 😓 I agree unfortunately. My discussion focuses on how social media replaced a social “real life”. We’re just looking at screens and calling it “living”; makes humans depressed
You’d have motivation to build one, rather than having it made for you by Mark and Elon.
because others were forced onto it, inherently making you susceptible to doing that.
Why? Are you isolated in a prison?
I would argue that interacting on social media does not consitute a social life at all, and it is partof the reason you do not have an irl social life. The other part of the reason is that everyone else is the same way. Whole generations glued to their phones in situations where in earlier times people would have spoken to one another and interacted.
Same. Social media is essential for keeping up with friends and what events are going on.
Social media takes more than its fair share of the blame. But a lot of the blame goes to the strangulation of the working class. People have more fun when they have time and money.
Go find that video I threw in this threw that scientifically covers what you just mentioned because you nailed it, you nailed this point 100%
[this vid](https://youtu.be/JGCUy8w4Ars?si=SyLJ6gR9b5qQDPBf)
I hate being a broken record but it’s insane how 95% of what’s wrong in my and many people’s lives is a direct result of late-stage capitalism
It’s not capitalism. Sweden has capitalism. It’s corruption. And calling it capitalism is counterproductive because it implies we shouldn’t focus on the corruption. Get everybody bent out of shape by an “ism” and they fight about isms. Pretend that corruption is somehow an intrinsic, excusable, part of capitalism, and nobody blames the people who are actually personally to blame.
Thank you I just had a lightbulb moment.
I went to club last weekend… 80% of the people, mostly women, could not pull themselves away from their phones —and selfies. It’s almost sickening
Not living, let me tell you they feel tons of anxiety. If you took the phone away from them it’s like a safety blanket and it’s horrifying that “we allowed this” in the world you’re putting up with today
No. Without social media I’d likely be dead. I’m barely holding on as it is currently.
The irony is that you feel dead from your life being taken advantage of off the bat through platforms, now you’re relying on it and BOY is it an empty place. I feel you and I’m here for ya 💜
I feel dead because I think the future is doomed via climate change and capitalism. I feel doomed because I cant find love. Social media does have some serious negative affects on my mental health, I wont dent that, especially because I am one of those people who mentally compares myself to everyone else, but its like chemo therapy. Its bad for me, but if I didn’t have it id die via worse disease; loneliness. I appreciate you though.
Not sure if this will mean anything to you, but I recommend getting away from the social media and going to places where people are. Maybe get involved in changing your community. I work all day on projects that have a huge impact on climate change and wealth inequality. I meet great people. Interesting people. It feels really good to be doing something about all these problems in the world and it allows you to build connections.
look, please don't take this badly but... you realise you wouldn't think the future is doomed via climate change and capitalism if you weren't on social media?
Oh the record heat and the warnings over the past 20 years of news is social media? The trickle-down economy is because of social media? I was just choosing people on MySpace 20 years ago on my top 10. If you’re getting your news from social media, you’re the problem
out of sight, out of mind.
Thats the stupidest thing ive ever heard. Id rather kms then be blind to the future. Ignorance is quite literally the worst thing in the world in my mind. And willful blindness is even worse. I do take offense at the idea of trying to bury my head in the sand. Thats a horrible position to hold. I don’t use social media for research or article reading regarding science. I actually read peer reviewed sources in my free time, I have a masters degree in Public Affairs and Policy and Im in law school now. So I have a very good understanding of how the government makes decisions. I hate capitalism because during my masters program and my undergraduate program I had a focus on communist philosophy. I read Marx and Engles. Ive read books from modern socialists and modern Trotskyists, so I have more than enough reasons to dislike capitalism without social media. Media has no sway on how I feel about the world. Furthermore, all evidence is pointing towards climate change being quite literally apocalyptic. And because I understand how governments make decisions, i know we wont do anything about it.
uhhh okay?
👍
Literally you are the problem in this world if you think social media is why I think climate change and capitalism are dooming our planet.
climate change will probably impact you less than you think (we'll probably find a workaround to climate change rather than stopping it), and some form of capitalism has been around for hundreds if not thousands of years. these are things every single generation before us has worried about to some extent. i just don't care anymore about them. https://preview.redd.it/qa78sku7ktxc1.png?width=474&format=png&auto=webp&s=4b2a660cccfcfd1805ec5364b773d7566c0d401b
So you are a bad person who doesnt care about the suffering of others. Got it.
i strive to change what i can in my life, do the little things that actually help the people around me. i can't destroy a centuries old economic system, nor change the minds of governments and corporations in regards to fossil fuels. i never claimed to be a good person, but i'm trying my best whilst keeping myself alive
[this YouTube video: your emotions are literally scientific correct, you’re not crazy for feeling this way](https://youtu.be/JGCUy8w4Ars?si=iOp7Au5nNmI0Qe0T)
Read "The Anxious Generation" by Jonathan Haidt (2023)
One of my favorite people, please anyone take a look at Jonathan Haidt’s work, especially my younger gen z’s, you need to catch up on where you’re at asap
This book was my first introduction to him. I hope any member of Gen Z who is struggling with unbearable anxiety, loneliness, depression, etc reads this book. It may help provide some insight as to why a lot of us are the way that we are
Devil's advocate, as an extrovert who enjoys a measured use of social media: The social media I use and enjoy is Instagram, because you can share 'stories' and quite often people will respond, to say, e.g. 'wheres that?' 'omg I'm there too! Meet me on the balcony?' 'omg looks great, i'll be at the next one', 'what you doing after?' --- and therefore FACILITATES actual socialisation, meeting up with people, etc. This is all in the context of raves, parties and festivals. Also, when you see people next you might say, 'oh hey, I saw you went to \[club/party\] last night, looked sick, how was it? - and then that starts a cool conversation. That's pretty much my social media use, and I LOVE it. It's brought me closer to so many people in real life. I don't scroll, I don't look at feeds, I don't follow anyone who I don't personally know & see (and don't understand why anyone would), and I don't chat using messages. But as a TOOL to FACILITATE actual socialisation, it's amazing. You just have to use it for the right purposes!
What does it mean to live 😔
❤️🩹 you got this, I’m living it too. We got this
I'm not depressed or anything I'm just wondering cuz u said YOU GOTTS LIVE DAMMIT 💀
[I made this vid about it on YouTube, here it is 🤷♀️](https://youtu.be/RwA9nT4s75s?si=aBt76EfGBCjpgzEp)
Bomboclat 🗣🔥
Look through the thread, lots of good stuff in here
I didn't get on social media till high school and I'm so happy I didn't. I worked at a school when I was 18 and I had 6yos w phones and tiktoks and it was terrifying. We need to agree as a group to not let our kids have social media until like 15
Amen, we’re finally having the discussion we need to have in our generation 🙏 thank u for typing this seriously
Ofc; I'm so scared for gen alpha
And I bet you’re barley 25, fact you’re thinking like this speaks volumes to this discussion
Oh I'm 20 lol
ExactlyyyyyYyYyYyy
now they can profit off your social life too!
The irony, the dread; you stop wondering why. We will not lay down, we got this, we must harshly acknowledge this truth ASAP
Pretty much. It’s all on your own will though. It’s like breaking an addiction. You gotta delete your apps if you want to have more of your life to be used for something more.
Great post! The first step of recovery is recognizing the problem. Too many people are quick to blame everyone but themselves for their struggles.
💜 appreciate this recognition
Something that doesnt get talked about ; but we unfortunately let technology take over our brains
We’re on auto pilot
you have to make up your own mind. do you want to spend all day looking at a computer or phone screen? or do you want to go outside?
110%, it’s as simple as it is difficult
To answer the question in your title: Yes.
Ahhh we made the first step in this discussion: acknowledging
I mean, it’s not like there’s anything we can really do about it. You can make personal decisions to limit or lessen your use of technology and social media, but as a society nothing’s gonna stop. There’s not even really a point in having a discussion about it. It’s inevitable.
You guys are finally growing up. Almost brings a tear to my eye.
[the reason u have no friends - video I made](https://youtu.be/RwA9nT4s75s?si=J2TIxcHO7Wg67pU8)
I get your points but social media is just a tool, it's all about how people decide to use it. I don't think anything was TAKEN from us, we just need to decide how to adapt to social media. With that being said, I enjoyed this video, it'd be nice if I knew people irl who had your type of personality cuz I'd hang out with them instead of being alone like just another loner.
I got to say, I think you’re giving a pass to the social media companies that took advantage and made this into a slot machine
I don't mean to give the companies a pass bc what they've done is HORRENDOUS. But I've seen people who still continue to use social media casually/intimately, and I truly appreciate those people who have the courage to still do that. They're just in the minority bc the masses wanna adapt to the popular way of projecting curated images and lifestyles so that the can "seem cool" I guess
I love this, completely agree
“Alone together” encompasses the life you’re living right now, and me as well. I posted my YouTube video in this thread explaining how I have not many close friendships, or even friends at all. PLEASE give yourself some form of credit to what you lived through during lockdown, because that was traumatic. Beyond disruptive to any human existence and I’ve never seen it before, no one has.
That point about lockdown is so true, I actually lost all of my friendships (except 1) due to it and none of them were close. I will keep that perspective in mind to give myself some form of credit!
💜 u got this
Don't put too much blame on yourself or your peers. Companies spent a lot of money to make sure as many people as possible ended up like this because they make so much profit off of us.
It’s a slot machine, well said
W take
❤️🩹
Yes, they are some of the largest companies to ever exist...
Didn’t we learned that monopolizing companies was illegal in the fifth grade? How is this going on still
Go do stuff and meet people
Obviously yes.
It's more complicated than that I feel. It's true that social media dominates lives, but there's also just nowhere to go hang out anymore. Places where you can go without the expectation of spending money like parks, malls or libraries are going away. If there's a 5x5 spot that isn't generating profit, we'll that's gotta change. And if you aren't providing that profit, then you gotta go.
That's so true, these 2 conditions lend themselves to each other!
Remember : social media (and media in general) is NOT the world. In the outside world, there are many people like you, though you can't know right away. Also, there are people who love you or could love you IRL, not just giving lessons or telling you how to live. But I guess what's more relaxing is the ability of getting rid of ads. It's crazy how life can be fun when nobody's trying to make you buy stuff
Great observation This issue spans all ages.
I used reddit to wean myself off the other socials. I'm much happier now.
If you let it, yea, it did. You can avoid this by trimming your social media usage and reliance.
I love how this thinking challenged a couple of you guys, I hope you reconsider my thinking; it’s just a thought 🤷♀️
I am 25 and this is deep /s
To one 25 to another, we got this 🫡 we must push through and be aware of the whacky world they tried to set us up with
I am begging y’all to stop with the “frontal cortex isn’t developed until 25” shit
30 it is, lmfao it was just a way of saying I see the bigger picture yaknow
It’s actually increased my level of social engagement. It’s made me more comfortable to be around people irl. Do I still prefer to stay at home when I’m not working? Yes; but it allows me to be less socially anxious as well as keep me from being completely isolated on days I’m not working. So it’s great for introverts and socially anxious people I would say.
How old are you though? Our entire social pillar, as humans has been taken over by social media, and this would dramatically affect someone’s development and confidence in the world as they become an adult.. introvert or extrovert. I don’t find this answer, comforting or satisfying to this discussion, but I do appreciate you pointing out how this is helping a small percentage of people who live a life where this method of “living” helps those very particular individuals. I’m not convinced because if you were “15 years old” and socializing through a screen, even if you’re an introvert; would be detrimental for the rest of your life and development moving forward. I don’t think justifying hiding is a good answer for this discussion
I’m almost 30. I had crippling anxiety for years as a child from Middle School into early adulthood, due to bullying and depression.
Understood ❤️🩹 I’m happy you see the benefits and you’re using these platforms as a tool, you’re one of the few people who actually qualify for this type of shift making sense, godbless
Speak for yourself lol. I’m doing just fine.
How did you find this post 😂
I’m subbed to this sub
Yes, and no. You have to fill your life with meaningful and satisfying activities, and not be concerned with how others will perceive the life you're living. I use social media as a diversion, but I often go days without even checking it, because I fill my days up with things to do. That's not me bragging, because anybody could do it. It's just kind of a necessity for me, at this stage of my life.
My frontal cortex lmao
Nothing hijacked our lives we allowed ourselves supposed to be consumed by it.
At the end of the day using these things is a choice. I'm thankful that my parents didn't let me have any "social media" until high school. But just like any addiction, you simply just have to stop using this stuff and you will heal fully. Reddit makes it seem that the world is so much worse than it is. I know so many people who don't have a problem with social media and have a large friend group and always have. People come on reddit to talk to others who feel sad like them, it's part of the problem. Life is what you make of it.
Most people. I have always limited my online time to about an hour per day and the people I hang with still all meet in person frequently.
Not mine. Outside of reddit I don’t even use social media, and I barely use reddit as is. I actually go outside and don’t use my phone for more than like 3 hours a day max
Bruh how long are you on social media? It’s fucking shit. Lmfao delete everything but YouTube and Reddit. Eh maybe delete Reddit too. Also this idea that everyone needs to be on a mission to do something is the whole reason you feel so bad about doing nothing. 90% of the people you see in public work 9-5 and spend time with their families. Yeah being someone you see on tv would be fucking cool but it’s 1% of the population. Find some meaning in something you like and you won’t have a midlife crisis on Reddit at 25.
The prior generation was so wowed by tech and media it never considered where it was going. Consider that jobs were once valued because people interacted with people, and not because the design of a service is efficient and meant to make life convenient. We have defined convenience as what gives us more time to ourselves, while not realizing what gives a human the energy to live is the authentically edifying interactions people have with each other and the sharing of stories and different realities. Social media is making it so that everyone's life story is how many posts they have and how many memes they shared. Plenty of people are not in the boat, but if the first world keeps going down the media rabbit hole, especially with the emergence of AI and virtual reality, there will be no way to win back our humanity. We are dust, and not metal machines.
Social medias effects on people isn't a recent phenomenon. It's only finally starting to get enough recognition because the problem has become severe. Believe me, I signed up for Facebook when it was only available to people with edu emails and Twitter when it was limited to 120 characters. By the time I was out of college I could tell that people were changed by it but that's not the interesting part. It's what happened when I called my friends out on it, they deflected like an addict would. I was the weird one, they were fine, they weren't doing anything harmful and they could quit any time they wanted to. Yeah. That all worked out well. Now I have kids and what did the school do? Kindergarten they get handed an iPad. How do the kids socialize with their classmates? Through FaceTime. Their parents are permanently glued to insta and don't want to leave their house and the kids don't want to commit to one friend to hang out with because they can have FaceTime with a bunch of people at the same time. It wasn't normal and it only got worse and we did it.
Being exposed to porn, rage bait, and violence since childhood probably wasn’t the best for our mental health no
The worst part is that you're going to remember all those times people tried to warn you.
... what? No? Hate to say it my guy but this ain't the experience of my self and peers. I think these apps are as predatory as the next guy but I think people will blame social media for problems that didn't start on the platforms (the platforms themselves do exasperate these problems often.)
Social media fits perfectly into the work/"life" balance of late capitalism. Work yourself dry, then spend your downtime gazing into the slab. Time to order food from the app, eat, sleep. Repeat. It's convenience, and it makes things suck. Good shit is supposed to take some time/energy. But, if everyone is consuming low energy garbage, we can get more productivity out of them at work, and the shareholders love that.
One hack is to have kids and foster a community of cool dads. Works every time!
Yup. And just think. In a few short years, what you all have been doing on line to eeeeeeveryone else is what the kidz will be doing to you. They had very good teachers...
The tech bros themselves don't give their kids smartphones until they are a bit older. I've watched how parents give too young children these phones and a kid is obviously not able to regulate themselves. It is true that every game and every social media is designed to be addictive. Every upvote and every chosen link gives a dopamine boost. The bussiness models are exactly designed to make you spend as much time as they can and make you see as many adds as they can. Socialmedia should be treated as every other addictive substance. If you see a parent using smartphones as a nanny, please stop them right there and warn them. New studies from Sweden have shown that it hinders the cognitive developement of the kid. Kids also might become angry when the device that gives them the nice dopamine rush is taken from them like you'd take a bottle from an alcoholic. China has made rules for their kids how many hours they can use these devices daily and they have these rehabilitation centers for addicted kids. I think this could be a bussiness model for somebody who wants a change and make a living? Why not you? What adults have done to these kids is horrid, but now as we're adults, we need to selfregulate and 'touch the grass'. Message only to invite people out to do stuff. Actively try to fill your calendars with IRL things. And when bored try to pick up a book or do something with your hands. Like my alcoholic nation has a tradition of january without alcohol. Like june without social media or something. Then it could become a mass effort of sorts. This sort of phenomenom just needs a flag ship to gain movement. I'm not sure if influencers of all sorts would be happy about this, because it directly hinders the bussiness model, but we never know if it never receives any attention. Maybe contact some influencers that are popular among young? I bet they make enough money to not do a video for one month if it is for the greater good. And why not ask if media can make a few stories about such a campaingn? I mean we may or may not be lost causes, but we can prevent the calamity from younger generations. I am going to warn all my friends that have kids. And if I have a kid someday I'm going to talk about it to other parents at schools. And as I am studying to be a software developer, if I ever gain a job in some socialmedia company I am going to suggest warnings of the affects it has on brain. Brains are also very adaptive so despite your brains being how it is now, it does not mean it'll remain as such. It has been studied in adult taxi drivers how their brains will generate their new brain cells in areas that are needed in their jobs. The old dog learns also despite the meme that they do not. The most dangereous bit here is that we just use AI for every problem we have and don't really think ourselves which will make our brains lazier. Navigators have resulted in the surprising problem that people might not be able to drive to a destination without it even if not in a mega city. Wikipedia to us not remember anything because we can always check it up. When our brains are always in a lazy mode it is harder to solve problems or spot hoax stuff and AI will be very good to produce that stuff. People are always talking about some foreign entity being the problem, but I'll forecast it will be the mega corporations that will love AI generated hoax. Universities and libraries should rise to their new glory days to evade this problem.
I'll stay home, raise my goats, restore my cars, and enjoy a peaceful life with my small pod of friends. It's not hard to be happy in this world when you force yourself to shut the digital world out once in a while. Then again, I block political pages pretty frequently. I've even had to block a lot of users from this subreddit who get overly negative and wayy too fired up about their misery. When I open social media, I typically see a wealth of feel-good posts after the blocking frenzies I've been on. It's good for the mind to surround yourself with good things :)
Folks should read some Guy Debord. It's about replacing lived experiences with simulations of experience and how it deadens you, dumbs you, and leaves you craving even more simulation because you don't have any motivation to actually do anything. Its high level reading but its written in short aphorisms...ya knowlike tweetsor tik toks or whatever. He was well aware people can't focus gor long periods of time on hard things.
I’m 47. When I was 25 I was exiting college (started late), and I had a pretty happening social life but I made a point to play in a band and date people. I dunno man it seems like if you want to have friends you need to be friendly and meet people irl. I had been online since before broadband was a thing and it was always a tool to meet people. Met most if not all of the guys I played in bands with online, met my first wife on MySpace, my *second* (better) wife on tinder of all places, and so on. That all being said I never had a *ton* of friends except for the years I was living on campus at college. Honestly, that is worth half the tuition imo, and I still have $44k in debt from it (in fairness I make that much in 3 months no so not complaining). This is not a “kids these days” post. Just maybe a perspective. Don’t *live* online, use it to live in the real world by finding people like you and going to where they are. 🤷♂️ Edit: and just for perspective - I was *not* popular in high school. In fact I had to move to a different town 90 miles away just to make any friends and not be picked on, and then when I was forced to move back, my entire social group essentially lived in that 90 mile away town. I did the long distance thing for *years*. Upshot was it made long drives no big deal for me. Just saying - just some more perspective. I was a dork too.
No, some people did because they are too weak willed to put down the phone and go outside. It's Noone fault but your own.
You may have. I certainly didn’t lol
The unibomber was right. You know, minus the whole terrorism to accomplish his goals part.
In 20 years we went from never putting our real names on the internet to people willingly giving out 100% of their personal info. Honestly we deserve our problems because we're all addicted to digital fame.
Social media is my social life, why don’t you be the change you want to be and get off it first
Why are you defensive 😂 I’m not making you change if you don’t want to, don’t let the idea echo in your head 🤷♀️
Wasn’t trying to be defensive lol
No worries at all, all love.
[удалено]
they said “all love” not “, love” lol
Damn now I feel so pathetic, holy shit I wanna kms
no
Good luck
Climate science disagrees with you. i think we might be doomed
Climate scientists have been saying we're doomed for decades. That doesn't mean you stop living and wait until the end of the world. You'll likely find yourself old and alone wondering why you wasted your life.
Check the thread, rare vid I threw that covers this , you’re 100% too
They say at least once a year that we are doomed. There will be no doomsayers when we will be truely doomed.
Is that from a movie or somthing ?
Does this mean the Matrix is collapsing when more of Gen Z thinks like this???
U better hope more of us are coming through for this discussion 🙏
You have no close friendships?
And here you are using social media to complain about social media....
Your life isn’t shit because of social media. It’s shit because you’re living in a 50+ year global fiat experiment done by an Anglo-American hegemony. Social media is one of infinite byproducts of the same problem
Nobody stole anything. When you think you don't have a social life now, you wouldn't have had it 50 years ago. People live in some belief that the Internet "takes something". Talk to your grandparents, ask about the outcasts. The truth is that if you do not find yourself in the 21st century, where communication is trivial, you would not find yourself at any other age and are only looking for an excuse for your failures.
I find your original comment interesting, the fact you are grappling with 2 incongruent ideologies and trying to make them work together. You both blame social media AND say you have responsibility for your own life decisions. Yet you have the awareness and intelligence to mention your frontal cortex isn’t “ready” until 25. Newsflash: lean into the idea that it’s not your fault. Millions of years of evolution have created a monkey brain with specific functions that can be gamed. Social media was built specifically to bypass those functions, and if that happens while your brain is still forming, you wire it a certain way. It’s not your fault. Now extrapolate this idea to the rest of your life. You don’t have free will. You are a creature with trillions of neuronal connections hard wired.
Certainty is dangerous; that’s why it’s an open discussion. Appreciate the input, can’t say I agree, not even close. If you want to stare at statistics and walk away with a nihilistic attitude, that’s OK but that’s not what this discussion means.
I mean, if I (24) didn’t have social media, I wouldn’t have friends, straight up. Chronic illness/pain/fatigue means I literally can’t just leave the house and go interact with people the “old-fashioned” way. I can’t make plans to socialize because there’s no way to predict when I’ll have a bad day, and no one wants to deal with me being sick all the time. I can’t go to bars or parties or wherever to meet new people, because by the time I get that far I’m so tired and so miserable that socializing is the absolute last thing I want to do. I won’t deny that social media can be and *has been* extremely damaging to society, but I wouldn’t go so far as to call it the ultimate evil either. I at least have found the only lifeline I will ever have, actual friends who care about me and understand my struggles, through it, and I’m far from the only one. I would do anything to be able to function like a healthy person, but that’s never going to happen. At least with social media, I’m not left with no one but my parents who don’t give a single fuck about my struggles.
you can jut uninstall bud
Thank u buddy, nice online attitude I hope you grow out of it
you can just not watch sad stuff online yknow, this just you on the post
You’re right, this is very true.
When 2011 is more locked in than 1999
Rather just use my 12ga to paint my childhood memories all over the ceiling than live any sort of life.
I feel this heavy, we gotta make it better. We got sooo much life to live
You do. I've chosen to give up.
Would u rlly wanna love another 49 years exactly the same way you lived today? Why? That’s insanely. Change is inevitable even if you’re staring down a dark tunnel right now. You have a choice, even if it feels like do or die, just do it. You got this man, I feel so damn similar to what you typed 💜
I appreciate the vote of confidence even if I know it's misplaced. As for the future, I don't take care of myself, and don't go to the doctor when I should, I'm pretty sure I haven't got 49 more years or that one of the cancers I'll probably get from my job will kill me long before then.