Social Media Drives Our Divides
- Thread starter IUCrazy2
- Start date
Trying to develop Instagram for kids under 13? The idea in itself is a disgrace, and it took major pushback to pause it.
I'm old enough to remember when kids having their own TVs in their rooms was going to be the end of civilization as we knew it.
Objectively speaking, just way different. You can’t really compare network tv to system delivering personally tailored content to billions of people. It’s like comparing a plastic transformer toy to a real life terminator.
Lemme guess, you had a TV in your room when you were a kid, didn't you?
Point being, it may turn out not to be the big deal many seem to think it might be. Personally, I'm more concerned about the effects of social media on adults than I am on kids. I don't see the kids going barking mad over what they see in their feeds.
i hope you're right. so far i would agree w/ you, but the jury's still out. i actually agree with The Vid's sentiments, but i'm not sure if he has kids nor realizes just how ubiquitous social media (not facebook that's old farts) like tiktok is w/ kids. it's their shared experience. it's the commonality of "did you see this video" "no send it me" "oh my gosh i have to send it to sarah" blah blah blah. the way kids relate, and live really, is just very, very different and there isn't a chance in hell you could take your kid, one kid, and say you aren't having any of it. the kid would be a social pariah
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anon_6hv78pr714xta
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My daughter is going to be 14 in a month. She doesn't have TikTok or Instagram, but we just allowed her to have Snapchat because all of her friends use that to communicate and she was getting left out of conversations. To a teenage girl, that was the worst thing that could happen. I'm terrified of all of this stuff for my kids, though.
Regarding comparisons to previous moral panics (TV, video games, etc.), I'm not aware of any of those being linked to higher incidents of depression in teens whereas social media use is so linked--at least according to FB's own internal research. Here's hoping some crafty plaintiff's attorneys (I'm looking!) sue the beejeezus out of FB/IG to change their policies towards minors.
His dad blew it when he let him have one of the first typewriters in his room, to go with the candle.
Video games were most certainly linked to aggressive, even violent behavior by youth. Or so we were told.
I’ve said this for years. Kids today cannot unplug. When we were young and you had a bad day, got in a fight, got bullied or whatever - you had a chance to get away everyday for 16 hours or so when you went home from school. Now it just continues all night. It’s awful. I’ve seen it first hand and I’m sure you will too. To McM’s point (and yours) you can’t just pull your kid off their phone. They wouldn’t be able to be part of the society they inhabit. It’s nuts.
Party lines were the first social media.
Actually, that was the genesis of the NSA.
Yeah, I was an early member of fb back in 2004 or 2005 when it opened for college students. Once boomers and other crowds got involved, I slowly closed my account, especially when it got more political.
The same crowd is ruining some of my other sites too by trying to make them like fb, or it could be them and a combo of Zuck/Russian bots controlling the content.
The younger crowd aren’t really fb fans but they use other apps and share mindless content like on fb. TikTok is pretty awful from what I’m seeing… shared on other social media sites. Just lots of mindless and low effort content… unlike the WC.
Here's how things can change in a short period of time.
My older kid was in 8th grade around 2006. She had no interest in video games or phones, or the internet. She just liked having real friends. She never asked for a phone.
At a school function, a few mom's of her friends approached us and said her friends wanted her to have one, and would we mind if they chipped in to get her one for her upcoming birthday so they could communicate better. They were just talking about one of those basic Tracphones. Since she had never seemed interested, or ever asked, we didn't know what to say. We talked about it and agreed. She wasn't all that interested, and really didn't use it all that much. We would buy her minutes as presents, and sometimes they would expire because she didn't use them in time.
Fast forward 3 years, and our other kid wanted every electronic device that came down the pike. She begged all the time for the newest items.
And now, both of them are social media directors...one for a very large church, and the other for an online fashion boutique...and both making a pretty good living.
Oh well...
1991 is to 2006 as 2006 is to 2021.
Damn that sucks to say out loud in writing.
That was how you found out who's truck was parked in the neighbor ladies driveway..... When the neighbor husband was away on a business trip to Vegas.
Our Neighborhood CNN reporter was named Betty, two terrible kids, just terrible.
I got my first home computer in 97 or 98. Knew absolutely nothing about them. Bought a printer and the install disk had an installer for AT&T Worldnet, and Boom! I was online. Had no idea what to do from there.
My friend Joie at Howard's Bookstore sold me Windows 95 for Dummies, and that's what introduced me to Usenet newsgroups. In no time I was corresponding in near real time with like minded people all over the world. I "met" my wife on Usenet, built a gang of real friends there, met many in real life, and still see them to this day. I learned everything I know about computers and Linux in private NNTP servers.
Today Usenet is a shell of itself, and technical support and discussion is done on different platforms. Facebook supplanted the Usenet groups I socialized in, and web forums are now where computer discussions and support happen.
I've never had a Facebook account and can't imagine I ever will. I'm told I'm missing out on a lot. Could be. What I do know is I sure do miss the good ol' days.
You’re not missing out. My friends and family have moved on to ongoing group texts. Rather than publicizing our baby on social media, we have a shared iPhone album that we share pics and vids with to keep them updated. So Apple is probably keeping stats on our kid.
I still spend too much time on my phone browsing but I’m not bitter like I was while on fb.
As a side note to the divide, I certainly have lost contact with some olds friends because of fb. I’m willing to accept their different opinions on social and political issues but they see it as a us vs them situation. I can give a profile (two types) but I don’t want to offend anyone here.
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anon_6hv78pr714xta
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I think I understood 1/3 of the words in this post.
I am now considering deleting my FB account, though, and joining this Usenet thingie you describe. Lots of hot chicks on there?
Couldn't tell you about now. I met a few and married one, but damn near all of 'em moved to Facebook. And they're all 20+ years older now, so...
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anon_6hv78pr714xta
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That's pretty cool. That was what people fantasized the internet would be used for in the beginning. I guess it has been used for that, along with a lot of other great things we forget about as we focus on all the bad stuff like FB.
Don't get me wrong, Usenet in general is/was/could be a cesspool. But among the tens of thousands of groups, you could most likely find one that just "fit" and make a home there.
It was also a repository of an unbelievable wealth of information and help with all kinds of things. Once me and my Canadian (now) wife decided to take the plunge, we joined a group dedicated to walking people through the entire process of successfully navigating the K-1 visa (aka "fiance visa") immigration system. We got through it without a hitch, and saved a bundle on immigration lawyers and the like.
sheesh you guys.
you do realize it isn't personal? right?
