Almost a year ago, we wrote about how post-Millennials are safer, physically, than adolescents have ever been, but they’re on the brink of a mental-health crisis.
The Atlantic's Jean Twenge questioned whether "smartphones destroyed a generation?"
There is compelling evidence that the devices we’ve placed in young people’s hands are having profound effects on their lives - and making them seriously unhappy.
In the period since, various former Facebook founders and Silicon Valley sicophants have had their 'come to Jesus' moments, recognizing and accepting that what they have created is indeed changing behaviors... and not for the better.
Mustapha Itani, via Medium.com, explained that several months ago, one of the early pioneers of Facebook and its first President Sean Parker, voiced his regret regarding helping create social media in the form we know it today, saying:
“I don’t know if I really understood the consequences of what I was saying, because of the unintended consequences of a network when it grows to a billion or 2 billion people and it literally changes your relationship with society, with each other,”…
”God only knows what it’s doing to our children’s brains.”
Parker says the social networking site exploits human psychological vulnerabilities through a validation feedback loop that gets people to constantly post to get even more likes and comments.
“It’s exactly the kind of thing that a hacker like myself would come up with, because you’re exploiting a vulnerability in human psychology,” he said.
“The inventors, creators — it’s me, it’s Mark [Zuckerberg], it’s Kevin Systrom on Instagram, it’s all of these people — understood this consciously. And we did it anyway.”
And now The Economist is coming clean against social media's impact on the world's youth... and how heavy use of social media is linked to mental illness.
Youngsters report problems with anxiety, depression, sleep, and "FoMO"...
May 20th marked the end of “mental-health awareness week”, a campaign run by the Mental Health Foundation, a British charity. Roughly a quarter of British adults have been diagnosed at some point with a psychiatric disorder, costing the economy an estimated 4.5% of GDP per year. Such illnesses have many causes, but a growing body of research demonstrates that in young people they are linked with heavy consumption of social media.
According to a survey in 2017 by the Royal Society for Public Health, Britons aged 14-24 believe that Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter have detrimental effects on their wellbeing.
On average, they reported that these social networks gave them extra scope for self-expression and community-building.
But they also said that the platforms exacerbated anxiety and depression, deprived them of sleep, exposed them to bullying and created worries about their body image and “FOMO” (“fear of missing out”).
Academic studies have found that these problems tend to be particularly severe among frequent users.
Nearly 63% of Instagram users report being miserable, a higher share than for any other social network. They spend an average of nearly an hour per day on the app.
Now that is a chart that Mark Zuckerberg does not want the public to see - especially parents, or European politicians.
It's not just The Economist, another former Facebook executive opened up about the same concerns.
Chamath Palihapitiya, former vice president of user growth at Facebook stated at a recent public discussion at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, “I think we have created tools that are ripping apart the social fabric of how society works.”
”The short-term, dopamine-driven feedback loops we’ve created are destroying how society works,” Palihapitiya said.
“No civil discourse, no cooperation; misinformation, mistruth. And it’s not an American problem - this is not about Russians ads. This is a global problem.”
Palihapitiya then expressed the feeling of guilt, “I feel tremendous guilt. I think we all knew in the back of our minds — even though we feigned this whole line of, like, there probably aren’t any bad unintended consequences. I think in the back, deep, deep recesses of, we kind of knew something bad could happen. But I think the way we defined it was not like this.”
“So we are in a really bad state of affairs right now, in my opinion. It is eroding the core foundation of how people behave by and between each other. And I don’t have a good solution. My solution is I just don’t use these tools anymore. I haven’t for years.“
Concerning the issue of social media as a whole, Palihapitiya stated that he doesn’t use it anymore since he “innately didn’t want to get programmed.” And as for his kids, “they’re not allowed to use this shit.”
Circling back to last year's The Atlantic article, the correlations between depression and smartphone use are strong enough to suggest that more parents should be telling their kids to put down their phone. As the technology writer Nick Bilton has reported, it’s a policy some Silicon Valley executives follow. Even Steve Jobs limited his kids’ use of the devices he brought into the world.
...
If you were going to give advice for a happy adolescence based on this survey, it would be straightforward: Put down the phone, turn off the laptop, and do something—anything—that does not involve a screen. Of course, these analyses don’t unequivocally prove that screen time causes unhappiness; it’s possible that unhappy teens spend more time online. But recent research suggests that screen time, in particular social-media use, does indeed cause unhappiness. One study asked college students with a Facebook page to complete short surveys on their phone over the course of two weeks. They’d get a text message with a link five times a day, and report on their mood and how much they’d used Facebook. The more they’d used Facebook, the unhappier they felt, but feeling unhappy did not subsequently lead to more Facebook use.
I realize that restricting technology might be an unrealistic demand to impose on a generation of kids so accustomed to being wired at all times. Prying the phone out of our kids’ hands will be difficult, even more so than the quixotic efforts of my parents’ generation to get their kids to turn off MTV and get some fresh air. But more seems to be at stake in urging teens to use their phone responsibly, and there are benefits to be gained even if all we instill in our children is the importance of moderation. Significant effects on both mental health and sleep time appear after two or more hours a day on electronic devices. The average teen spends about two and a half hours a day on electronic devices. Some mild boundary-setting could keep kids from falling into harmful habits.
Comments
Baked into the FB cake. Can only keep squirting endorphins for so long.
When controlled selfish and narcissistic sociopaths refuse to "act" or "react" wisely...
And NEVER realize when they are in the gravest danger through the "WARNINGS" (https://www.ae911truth.org/) they are served!...
TOO LATE FOR A "THINKING CAP" NOW!!!
In reply to Baked into the FB cake. by RumpleShitzkin
The lil_horsemen have all, long ago, given up FaceBook and almost all social media of their own accord. I like to think that not having a television or game console in our home helped, as well as lots of books and a little bribery...
In reply to When controlled selfish and… by Son of Captain Nemo
The FED will finance it via buying Newflix, Apull, Micrasoft. Fubkbunk, Twatter and the like. Not to mention the debit cards by the big banks.
In reply to https://www.zerohedge.com… by hedgeless_horseman
I wonder how Facebook's metrics would look if they were to remove accounts of dead people.
In reply to The FED will finance it via… by blindfaith
#DeleteFacebook
In reply to I wonder how Facebook's… by Team_Huli
Blaming technology for teh woes of teh world is no different than blaming crime and violence on guns. It's all about teh user and how they use teh device.
In reply to #DeleteFacebook by InjectTheVenom
I can see the FB type service as being good for keeping people in touch who are quite some distance away, however, if you don't want all that contact all the time you just don't use the stupid service.
I don't want all that contact and I certainly don't want my 'family' group to interact with my 'friends' group AT ALL, so I ended my participation in FB years ago.
I just don't see how all these FB type diversions are any good let alone how they add to productivity?
IMO they're worthless and like many celebrities / pro athletes they are valued far more than they ought to be for what they are.
If these apps went away would me really miss them? No...of course not.
In reply to . by Bitchface-KILLAH
We could kill off more than half of the population and still be fine. We’d probably have an economic boom as well.
Also, you can’t lie to me about all of that, everything is recorded. The guy that handles the files is a friend. You simply can’t win against me, you’re individual acts are just you losing and entrapping yourselves. I play a different game than you. I play against billionaires and world leaders, you’re on the streets trying to catch up.
In reply to I can see the FB type… by glenlloyd
Plus fake accounts - I got two, just to see if I could. Plus lapsed users, like myself, never having been "there" for years on any account and only active originally for about six months.
I wouldn't mind betting that the claimed number of users (maybe except amongst teenagers) are over-stated by at least 2/3rds. In any case the ad revenues of these anti-social media would be cut dramatically if the real numbers were known, either the ad revenue or perceived value to the various "agencies" collecting data.
In reply to I wonder how Facebook's… by Team_Huli
The bot net is easily half the usage. Falsified ad clicks and click farms.
I asked politely Wookie in white.
In reply to I wonder how Facebook's… by Team_Huli
Facebook is a huge part of the enslavement / mind control plan.
If you think this filthy little shithead Zuckerberg came up with this idea ( but the movie said so !!) you are already a slave.
In reply to https://www.zerohedge.com… by hedgeless_horseman
I'm going to like you.
Will that make you feel better?
In reply to Facebook is a huge part of… by JRobby
Having been a child of the 60's and 70's that unfortunately grew up "in it"...
I remember the words of Dawn Wells of Gilligan's Island fame in a documentary on TV shows of the 1960's. She said something to the effect that her show and show(s) like it came at a difficult time while her Country was at war in Vietnam, civil rights, anti-war movements, drug culture that gave the average American some light hearted escape in a time of severe turmoil...
All I can think of was the scene in "Born on the 4th of July" where Ron Kovic is home from his nightmare and his mother is in the kitchen with a piece of cake shouting out that "Laugh-In" is on as she turns from the news channel reporting the number of GI deaths and escalation in the war her son just came from...
That was 50 years ago and the "Bread & Circus" mentality that both was and is is a very meticulously cultivated "instrument" for both denial and motivation by those who own it!...
Whether it's a one way unidirectional channel of communication be it a TV set... Or a TCP/IP application with pipe that communicates bidirectionally that is there to service your petty indulgences to make you believe you have importance and significance but only in the worst and most self-absorbed and self-indulgent ways possible!
In reply to https://www.zerohedge.com… by hedgeless_horseman
Have you read it?
In reply to Having been a child of the… by Son of Captain Nemo
Yes indeed. Bradbury, Vonnegut and Philip K Dick my favourites!
In reply to 2. Read, Fahrenheit 451,… by hedgeless_horseman
Here, we are.
Now, I think I am going to throw up.
In reply to Yes indeed. Bradbury,… by Son of Captain Nemo
Sorry. I only watched it because Mary Ann gave me pre-adolescent wood. That's the only pipeline I got out of it.
Gilligan was much better as Maynard G. Krebs.
But nice try at hearing hoof beats and turning them into zebras. I'm sure some sociology freshman somewhere would be furiously taking notes.
In reply to Having been a child of the… by Son of Captain Nemo
shove
When your government is morally and financially bankrupt (https://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2017/msu-scholars-find-21-trillion-in-una…) with no friends left to $buy and only threaten AS OURS IS... And is ready to end itself over Korea and Iran after ALL that wonderful success in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Libya, Afghanistan and Ukraine... I'm in solidarity with you on the Mary Ann "front"...
After all.
When you no longer have the means to "pull your chestnuts out of the fire"?... Just "beat" it!
In reply to Sorry. I only watched it… by shovelhead
I started reading about this a few years ago.
http://www.brainhealthandpuzzles.com/television_and_brain_function.html
Turns out "they" have known since the 1960s that TV short-circuits your brain's "reward center," and can be addictive. Also, it puts the viewer in a highly suggestive state - not unlike being under hypnosis - which makes it a gold mine for advertising.
My kid and I don't watch TV at my house. We'll occasionally screen a movie; but that's it. And it's usually after reading the book. Last summer, I read the entire LotR trilogy to her over a period of a few weeks. Then, we watched the Peter Jackson movies, critiquing all the stuff the movies left out. It was great.
In reply to Having been a child of the… by Son of Captain Nemo
The iPhone is far worse. If you had to pick a poison I'd have your child watching TV before I'd ever let them cruise the internet "solo".
In reply to I started reading about this… by thatthingcanfly
Oh, no argument there.
I just find it remarkable that 50 years ago, studies were already showing what electronic media would do to one's brain. Smartphones are clearly to TV what crack is to cocaine.
In reply to The iPhone is far worse. If… by Son of Captain Nemo
They forgot to add
Realizing I am retarded and lost my marbles online
In reply to https://www.zerohedge.com… by hedgeless_horseman
No TV.
I do have my daily ZH habit to maintain of course.
In reply to https://www.zerohedge.com… by hedgeless_horseman
<-----Tell me I'm great!
<-----I don't need your stinkin' up votes!
In reply to Baked into the FB cake. by RumpleShitzkin
Article from The Economist. Illuminati's magazine of record.
Something's up. Trust no one.
Is Zuck on the outs?
All those smart hedge funds so very long FB.
So long!
Facebook's wall. The Wall. Mind control. Leave those kids alone.
In reply to <-----Tell me I'm great! <--… by Joe Davola
We don’t need no education! .... great piece of music.
So kids today need to learn to make and run their own programs. When not looking at a screen, there’s lots of lifeforms on earth to observe and minds to share through books, my favorite artifacts of life on earth. Team sports are great too.
In reply to Article from The Economist… by any_mouse
FB cunts.. miserable cunts
Smart phones as a greater threat to society than an ar-15, the irony \S
Yes, FB facilitated teen suicides vs school shooting victims. Both horrible, but one is much more prevalent.
In reply to Smart phones as a greater… by RagaMuffin
Yes, and CUTTING yourself with razorblades and posting it to see the feedback. BUT BUT, they are the LIBERAL LEFT, it is OK.
In reply to Yes, FB facilitated teen… by TheRunningMan
It is unbelievable what people do today.
In reply to Yes, and CUTTING… by blindfaith
Just checking, which do you see as more prevalant?
In reply to Yes, FB facilitated teen… by TheRunningMan
I'd love to see placards are rallies saying TIME TO END FACEBOOK instead of worrying about guns. Suicide kills kids, FB has some serious soul searching to do. Kidding, just make them write checks and disappear. LIKE THIS IF YOU AGREE.
It's a fucking OP for Christ sakes!!!!
Wake up !!!!!
In reply to I'd love to see placards are… by replaceme
I used to spend a lot of time playing MMOs. the development companies would hire casino consultants to help them develop reward systems that acted on the same psychology as gambling. social media is no different.
Being Social engineered is bad for your health. Well no fucking shit. I quit all of these mind control platforms on May 18, 2012 the day of FB IPO.
a whole generation is going to be seriously near sighted from staring at those phones. they walk out in front of traffic while staring at those tiny screens held mere inches from their noses.
Not just near sighted or blind.
Ironically, these kids can't do anything in the real world.
I recognized this a few years ago with my grandson. So I bought a Revell model of a 69 Camaro and we built it together. Basically, I steered and motivated and made him do all the work.
At first, he struggled with just opening the box. (I guarantee if there was a phone inside, he would have no trouble opening it).
But then we started into it and we both enjoyed it and he developed coordination and skills needed to plan, follow written and verbal instructions, layout and assemble the thing. Including small piece parts and delicate handling and patience. He chose paint colors and executed his plan and choices and it turned out very well.
I deal with millenials frequently. I fear for their future. They suck at life.
In reply to a whole generation is going… by buzzsaw99
We gave those up by 8 years old as being retardedly simple. We bought kits of planes with sheets of balsa wood and rolls of linen to build models by cutting the parts out of patterns and covering it with linen and dope to stiffen everything.
When you were done with those models, you felt like you really built something to be proud of. Then we graduated to mounting little Bee gas engines with working controls and spent days turning in circles flying them until they smashed in a bad landing or a broken control line and started over again. Those engines were expensive so you had to learn how to fix em when you augured in or you were out of luck.
Jesus, we were stupid and spent a ton of money at the hobby shop. The big bonanza was getting up early on Sunday morning and picking up all the beer bottles in the park where the older kids hung out and drank beer. There wasn't a beer or pop bottle on the ground within miles of our neighborhood.
We didn't watch TV unless it was raining and most the time parents wouldn't let you watch for more than an hour. They didn't want the TV Devil to get us.
It was a different time for sure back then.
In reply to Not just near sighted or… by Cardinal Fang
I just spent a weekend with some young kids...these phones rule their lives....100s of selfies....and had to post them....and when the batteries went dead...they wanted...no demanded to use my phone....they are like drug addicts....if they don't get their fix they go beserk.....If power ever fails for more than an hour ..they will commit suicide
In reply to a whole generation is going… by buzzsaw99
"I f you want to see the future of mankind, picture a boot on a human face, forever." - Orwell
I'm a pretty easy going guy, but the younger generations see me as a prick because I am not pliable. I adhere to the principles of my upbringing, ancient as they may be. A couple simple ones that social media addicts just don't get:
1) Don't worry about what other people think...they are most likely idiots any way
2) Protect and take care of your own...the government cannot do this...I doubt most skinny jean wearing effeminate males can either
Hence, 50 years from now when I am long gone, the pressure of the boot will be felt.
In reply to "I f you want to see the… by Versengetorix
Orwell and Huxley worked for the Boot.
In reply to "I f you want to see the… by Versengetorix
In other words, corporations in conjunction with "The Government" have found ways to keep people, ALL people, in a state of anxiety, uncertainty, and despair. That also means that these two toxic entities can control our happiness, at their whim.
FUCK BOTH.
Corporations are enemies to real human beings. These artificial humans, these legal entities, have more power than citizens, more wealth, and more sway in writing our laws and subverting our supposed freedoms.
And what the hell kind of government do we have whose sole purpose is to control the populace, lie to it, take away its rights, and elevate billionaires and corporations to Masters of America? Why haven't ANY of the s-elected representatives and high-ranking officials been prosecuted for rigging elections, causing perpetual war for profit, committing treason, and generally behaving like the psychopaths they really are?
God damn, I'm so sick of it.
I firmly believe the rise of social media has had a causal relationship on depression, anxiety and ultimately school shootings. If only there was better data to prove it.
There were far more school shootings in the early 90s. School shootings have decreased along with the general plunge in violent crime.
Why do you hear so much more about school shootings today? Because it's white dudes shooting white kids for white people crap instead of black dudes shooting each other over gang crap.
In reply to I firmly believe the rise of… by affirmed_78
Fortunately no one here at ZH was/is stupid enough to have participated in this mind control psyops platform.
Ha Ha Ha Ha, you think you are a comedian? Well, SNL is desperate for comedians, go try out.
In reply to Fortunately no one here at… by European American
I take it you're hooked, huh? Under your pillow at night...every 15 minutes?
(I was trolling for you)
In reply to Ha Ha Ha Ha, you think you… by blindfaith
Pagination