Anonymous wrote:I'm a trailing spouse who's forced to WFH against my will. I am totally isolated. Social media keeps me at least somewhat connected with family and friends, all of whom would forget about me otherwise.

People used to stay connected before social media. Crazy, I know.

Anonymous wrote:I'm a trailing spouse who's forced to WFH against my will. I am totally isolated. Social media keeps me at least somewhat connected with family and friends, all of whom would forget about me otherwise.

I don’t think your family or your (good) friends would forget about you without social media. It would take a little more effort to maintain those relationships, but just because someone clicks a thumbs up on your photos doesn’t mean you’ve got a good connection going.

Anonymous wrote:This is what I would change in social media:

1. I am against all the algorithms that push people into bubbles by showing them things they've previously watched. This has proven divisive for all populations. People should be presented with a variety of news source and content.

2. I am against the shortform, perfected by TikTok. It's deleterious for children's attention span and ability to focus. Watching longer videos is fine.

My teens love YouTube, and watch really interesting content (history, science, art -related videos). They've learned so much! A lot of social media is either educational or great at getting people together.

We need to certain aspects of change social media, not throw it out.

Both of those items are central to the business model, though. It’s the entire point of it. Divide people up into marketable micro categories and then cram as much content into their heads as possible in order to sell either stuff or ideas to them.

I'm a trailing spouse who's forced to WFH against my will. I am totally isolated. Social media keeps me at least somewhat connected with family and friends, all of whom would forget about me otherwise.

Anonymous wrote:This is what I would change in social media:

1. I am against all the algorithms that push people into bubbles by showing them things they've previously watched. This has proven divisive for all populations. People should be presented with a variety of news source and content.

2. I am against the shortform, perfected by TikTok. It's deleterious for children's attention span and ability to focus. Watching longer videos is fine.

My teens love YouTube, and watch really interesting content (history, science, art -related videos). They've learned so much! A lot of social media is either educational or great at getting people together.

We need to certain aspects of change social media, not throw it out.

You may as well wish a circle to be more like a square. Social media is the algorithm. We never needed facebook to post pictures. Basic web pages could always do that.

Social media harms children. That is a fact.

Social media is intentionally designed to be addictive. Also a fact.

Why would you give your children something known to be harmful and addictive?

Abolish it, 100%.

Social media is toxic.

Anonymous wrote:Absolutely. 100%.

I got off of all networks long ago and it’s amazing.

Hmm.....

Anonymous wrote:Sorry:
We need to change certain aspect of social media, not throw it out.

It isn't social media that needs to change. Social media only reflects people. Change people and change social media. So it is parenting and friendships that need to be looked at.

Sorry:
We need to change certain aspect of social media, not throw it out.

This is what I would change in social media:

1. I am against all the algorithms that push people into bubbles by showing them things they've previously watched. This has proven divisive for all populations. People should be presented with a variety of news source and content.

2. I am against the shortform, perfected by TikTok. It's deleterious for children's attention span and ability to focus. Watching longer videos is fine.

My teens love YouTube, and watch really interesting content (history, science, art -related videos). They've learned so much! A lot of social media is either educational or great at getting people together.

We need to certain aspects of change social media, not throw it out.

Anonymous wrote: If you could abolish social media, would you?

I would. I enjoy parts of it but the cons outweigh the pros. I fully believe social media is a huge reason for the mental health crisis both kids and adults are experiencing.

If not fully abolished I would remove anonymity and the ability to like or heart.

I do not really use social media, except for older relatives and long distance friends. Some people have neither. Some people have neither, and stalk other people's social media accounts to look for imaginary fault. OP, if this is you, you need to find a way to control your impulses and stay off social media. Other people's happiness is no good for you.

I think social media has its uses. It can be really fun at a professional conference to see what people are posting and to schedule meet ups. I like using it to get info on travel destinations too. It's also a great way to stay connected with family and friends in distant locations. All good stuff. And even here, amongst the snark, I do learn a lot about what's happening in the schools and community. It's useful.

At the same time I think people are really bad about boundaries on social media. It's like the manners and judgement people learned in real life disappear. Hopefully this will get better as social media becomes less new and social conventions form, but right now you need a pretty thick skin.

I don't think kids should be on social media until high school and even then they need to be monitored and coached by adults. I don't think the bullying in that age group is anything new--I was bullied as a kid before social media--it's just that social media can magnify it and make it inescapable.

Absolutely. 100%.

I got off of all networks long ago and it’s amazing.

If you could abolish social media, would you?

I would. I enjoy parts of it but the cons outweigh the pros. I fully believe social media is a huge reason for the mental health crisis both kids and adults are experiencing.

If not fully abolished I would remove anonymity and the ability to like or heart.