Tagsocial media
Moving Life Online is Making Us Depressed
The phone-based childhood robs kids developmentally, says Jonathan HaidtAnna Karenina and How to Read Long Books
"One chapter at a time" is actually how books like Tolstoy's were intended to be read.Yes, TikTok is Bad. But is a Ban the Answer?
This might be the way censorship sneakily invades.Google Gemini Presents a Past That Never Happened
You can't trust a bot to give you a history lesson, turns out.Facebook and Instagram Allegedly Hook Youngsters with Dopamine Triggering Tactics
Is Tech Still Innovating?
Is it just me, or is the world of technology feeling a bit … stale?You Can Be Social and Still Be Very Lonely
Machines can't meet our need to be known and understood.Andrew McDiarmid on Teens and Smartphones
We can mitigate the mental health crisis, but we have to act now.The Atlantic Warns of Smartphones in Schools. But Is Anyone Listening?
While word is getting out, there's still a long ways to go.This week, we ran a post covering a new public policy brief from the Institute for Family Studies and the Ethics and Public Policy Center. The brief conclusively demonstrated the tangible harms involved in exposing kids to the online world before they’re ready. The researchers concluded, in addition, that parents should not give their children digital devices. The stakes are too high, from increased risk of mental health disorders to learning impairments. Such warnings have been increasing over the past few years, thanks in large part to the in-depth research of people like Jonathan Haidt and Jean Twenge. The Atlantic published an article today on how smartphones are hurting kids’ cognitive and learning capacities. Derek Thompson writes, Researchers such as Read More ›
New Report: Parents, Don’t Give Your Kids Smartphones
This has become a national health crisis.Reading in the Digital Age
Writer Joseph Epstein argues compellingly on behalf of the novel.Homogeneity via Instagram and the Internet
Spending too much time online shapes our personality and outlook perhaps more than we'd like to admit.Trying to Solve Social Media’s Problems Through…More Social Media
Alternative social media apps still have to figure out ways to keep you scrolling.Last month a friend invited me to download a new photography app called “Lapse.” Perhaps you’ve already heard of it and downloaded it yourself. I decided to try it and see what all the fuss was about. The app’s opening screen was dramatic, with captions about the failures of previous social media apps to truly “capture” the present moment. The business model of social media apps, the Lapsers rightly contend, revolves around “likes” and gaining “friends.” What happened to taking pictures of real, human moments without minding the social reward they might reap? Photo-taking was about holding on to moments that mattered. It wasn’t about filters, validation, or identity. Lapse promises to be different. It’s a disposable camera on your Read More ›
The Great Trust Heist
When social media companies are mining data, trust is naturally undermined.Two Notable Reads: Children and Tech and the Illusions of Photography
How much should kids be online? And is taking pictures taking us out of real life?“Consensus” Doesn’t Always Mean Science
Real scientific discovery happens within a culture of free speech and open dialogueRobert J. Marks, host of the Mind Matters podcast, recently put out an article at Newsmax discussing “scientific consensus,” and how that term has been used to bully dissenting scientific viewpoints and even establish political and social policy. Marks writes, Consensus was used as a reason to stifle debate during the COVID crisis. Facebook and YouTube saw opposition to the government narrative as disinformation. Posts against consensus were censored and users were banned. Pre-Musk Twitter had a policy concerning tweets about climate change: “Misleading advertisements on #Twitter that contradict the scientific consensus on #climatechange are prohibited, in line with its inappropriate content policy.” The word pairing “scientific consensus” is a destructive science-stifling oxymoron. -Robert J. Marks, Consensus Doesn’t Equal Science | Newsmax.com Read More ›
Cal Newport: Overstimulation Is Ruining Your Life
Turns out the solution is simple: don't use things that overstimulate you.National Review: Let AI Take Over Social Media Influencing
AI influencers are revealing how vapid social media really isWe’ve recently commented on the AI influencer phenomenon, which seems to be taking social media by storm. With advanced AI imaging, more AI influencers are popping up, and they already look comparable to the likes of Kim Kardashian. The social media influencing world depends on primarily women selling their bodies for revenue. Instagram has tended heavily in this direction, and with the advent of OnlyFans, the temptation to flaunt oneself so provocatively is tangible for many. National Review writer Haley Strack thinks that the AI influencer horde will out-compete real-life influencers and eventually rule out the need for humans at all. She writes, Some criticize AI for giving young men another possibly perverse, sexual outlet online — but men who Read More ›