Social media are better to be called asocial media, insofar it replaces the medium air, in which people talk directly with each other.

The greatest pitfall of social media, especially for young individuals, seems to be how it conditions humans towards instant gratification. One click and I can receive support and confirmation almost immediately. Life is not like that. I have to put in the work to reap the rewards. When people are exposed to this addictive behaviour from a young age, their expectation of life becomes warped. Many of them become entitled through the "popularity" they achieve on the internet. Many of them are not capable of handling stressful situations because they are used to clicking one button to make everything okay.

You mention many of the other problems. Anxiety/Depression, lack of self-worth if the expectation of instant gratification is not met. There are problems not just for those that do suffer though - but also those that dish out the suffering. There is a wide lack of recognizing the gravity of our words. Insults and statements are thrown around carelessly on the web. There is no immediate emotional reaction when I type text on here, so I can just be as savage as I want, with no clue how miserable I might make the other party feel.

There is the problem of misinformation. Bubbles. Echo chambers. This is related to my first point - simply put, social media reinforces ANY behaviour through the way the algorithms work. This is neither good nor bad in itself. It could be great if you surround yourself with the right people, could be terrible if you surround yourself with the wrong ones. It really does reinforce ANY behaviour. Be it pure narcissism or the spreading of fake news - you'll get likes, you'll get comments, you'll get confirmation - making you post more of the same.

Are there more mental illness now vs. before Social media was discovered? — TheQuestion

In conclusion, yes. It's by far not the only reason though. I think many of our social dynamics play together here, from the internet, to work culture, expectations, etc.

I was exploring the features of my uncle's smartphone and happened to come across Digital Wellbeing! Anyone know what that means?

I was exploring the features of my uncle's smartphone and happened to come across Digital Wellbeing! Anyone know what that means? — TheMadFool

you can see which apps and websites you use most, and set daily limits.

is pretty much a babysitter app to make sure you don't over do it.

Honestly I think being self discipline is the key to emotional wellbeing and not over do it when it comes to the virtual world.

Read a book instead of a PDF, go for a walk in the park or exercise. Just over all be more interactive with the world.

Is social media making society more mentally ill?

Are there more mental illness now vs. before Social media was discovered? — TheQuestion

I'm not sure you could demonstrate a causal connection between the two.

This is a very old style claim. Innovations in technology are generally said to cause social disruption and interfere with people's mental health - newspapers, movies, TV, cars, recorded music, social media have all been accused of promoting social ills and having adverse mental health impacts.

I don't use social media and have not been on it to find out.

I don't use social media and have not been on it to find out — Tom Storm

What do you call The Philosophy Forum?

Just over all be more interactive with the world — TheQuestion

What if The World is the internet?

What do you call The Philosophy Forum? — Leghorn

A hot mess.

A hot mess — Tom Storm

Sposed to be a crying/laughing emoji inserted in there Tom—but it didn’t take.

I'm not sure you could demonstrate a causal connection between the two. — Tom Storm

I agree that a casual connection of the two is not possible but there are indicators that society is experience more mental health issues. Take for example school shooting and suicide rates. If we were able to take a census from 1920 to 1980 and a census of 1990 to now it would probably be a very frightening revelation.

Apparently you can’t use emojis unless you have given money to the forum. Didn’t know this before now.

Take for example school shooting and suicide rates. If we were able to take a census from 1920 to 1980 and a census of 1990 to now it would probably be a very frightening revelation. — TheQuestion

But the point is, you can't tell from such a change what is responsible for that change. So many things have altered since 1990, how would you establish it is social media and not, say, inadequate education, political failure, inadequate parenting, consumerism, loss of meaning, junk food, movies, etc?

I also doubt you can compare mental health reporting from 1920 or even 1990 to today. People were so uneducated about mental ill health. It was most likely underreported by an enormous amount.

But the point is, you can't tell from such a changewhat is responsible for that change. So many things have changed since 1990 how would you establish it is social media and not, say, inadequate education; secularism; loss of meaning, junk food, movies, etc? — Tom Storm

Interviews and psychoanalysis of the people who were involved in the events. And find out when the algorithm was implemented. create a sort of a decade by decade comparison or year by year comparison of violence and how it escalated over the years.

Psychoanalysis? Involved in the events? What does this mean? No. Sounds like you have already made up your mind that this is a thing. It's certainly fashionable to make this claim about social media. And it could be true but how would we know? Oops, back here again.

Mental health is bad for your social media. Really.

It's certainly fashionable to make this claim about social media. And it could be true but how would we know? Oops, back here again. — Tom Storm

There have been studies by the Scientific American Association about it that validates this suspicion. I haven't made my mind, I am simply trying to get another perspective. Although the evidence isn't 100 percent conclusive it is leaning more towards that direction. Hence the debate in the STEM department and how many Engineers are contemplating the ethical implication about Social Media.

Psychoanalysis — Tom Storm

I mean the psychoanalysis of shooters and what motivated them to act on those impulses. If Social media was a factor in motivating there acts of violence. Which is a factor that needs to be considered when asking the question.

I mean the psychoanalysis of shooters and what motivated them to act on those impulses. — TheQuestion

Psychoanalysis refers to a particular therapeutic intervention. What you mean is a psychological or psychiatric assessment. These can be notoriously unreliable.

I am simply trying to get another perspective. — TheQuestion

This is not 'another perspective'. It is widely held today that social media is sending people bonkers hence endless article and discussion about bubbles and feedback loops and self-harm and other deleterious impacts. You are just restating what many people already believe.

Is social media making society more mentally ill? — TheQuestion

Yes.

:up:

Sposed to be a crying/laughing emoji inserted in there Tom—but it didn’t take. — Leghorn

:up:

netflix has that social dilemma, which is really scary. I was checking my phon e a lot when watching it, and so that proved its importance. I think we're all addicted to this stuff now and maybe there will be a movement to unplug or something but then we'll just move on to the next thing. There may not be a going back.

you can see which apps and websites you use most, and set daily limits.

is pretty much a babysitter app to make sure you don't over do it. — TheQuestion

Ah! I should've pressed the icon and dug a little deeper into the feature. So, Digital Wellbeing basically provides an overview of how you've used the internet - app & website history & time spent browsing/surfing. This should, if it works as intended, give you some idea of your inclinations - what interests you - but more importantly your addictions - those websites and apps in the form of most-visited and most-used. The objective then is to give one insight into one's own nature, one's digital life, that information helping you to exercise some degree of control over one's digital avatar.

Is Social Media bad for your Mental Health? — TheQuestion

An quick, offhand answer: It depends on how one uses them, if one is gullible or sophisticated, if one has sound judgment and in general, on how one deals with information.
And it certainly also depends on one's age! :smile:

But I can elaborate on the subkect ... (I didn't have that in mind at start! :smile:)

Don't forget that "social media" are an extension of "live" socializing.

So, certainly social media are not bad for mental health. They can be so, but they can also help/improve one's mental health!

Is social media making society more mentally ill? — TheQuestion

Now the focus is passed from the individual (which actually is the subject!) to the society.
Well, a society cannot me "mentally ill"! Its members only can. So, we are speaking about the average mental health of the members of a society.

One has to look here for statistics on criminality, suicide, mental hospitalization, etc. I don’t have such data but I think that unfortunately they are on an upward trend in all sectors. Social media may be responsible in part for that, but I think that the continuing and long economic crisis is much more responsible.

On the other hand, we must also look at the positive side of social media:
- Socializing in general is much increased. People, esp. young ones, can enjoy social contacting much more and easier than in the past, esp. those who were not getting easily out of their homes.
- Socializing makes one more extrovert, which is generally considered as a good thing.
- People's knowledge in much increased, because with the social contacts one learns new things.
- People's intelligence is increased, because one has to dial with more and diverse contacts, and communication is certainly an enhancing factor of intelligence..
- And more ...

So I don't know if the negative and positives sides compensate for each other or one of them outweighs the other ...

I think the answer is very simple to your question. Similar to knives, it's the use of it which could be bad indeed for someone.
Social Media on their own are just fine.

But yes, since most people in general make bad use of it then yes I think mental illnesses have been seriously increased at the Social Media Era. And I m afraid that it will get much much worse at the near future.

But yes, since most people in general make bad use of it then yes I think mental illnesses have been seriously increased at the Social Media Era. And I m afraid that it will get much much worse at the near future. — dimosthenis9

I am keen to agree and I wonder where the responsibility lies.

Should Facebook be responsible for the creation of the algorithm or the people who use it?

In other words....

Who should take accountability? The user or the company.

It feels like Pandora’s box.

Also is not just a simple yes an no.

Is also about awareness, and I ponder other areas. Like are we living in a technological age of exploiting the emotions to make profit?

That maybe the algorithm is enhancing peoples negative thoughts like “shock jocks”

Example: Damn Democratic are trying to steal our Guns!

Obviously is a over exaggeration,

the algorithm takes a casual interest or curiosity and blows it up on your browser causing a sort of intellectual tunnel vision by using ads.

A sort of relational logic of end user psychology.

Is used to make profit.

Take PF, I have no interest in philosophy, I actually not fond of the subject.

But guess how I got here and posting my ideas here.

LOL!

The algorithm at works guys

I've read a few arguments in favor of the argument that social media is bad for your mental health, and I don't disagree with them, but I've always wondered that since social is just an extension of society, doesn't that mean society is bad for your mental health? I mean, sure social media can present everything through rose-tinted glasses, but Im able to remember a time when social media wasn't a thing. Folks still had the same kind of problems they have today. And you couldn't just exit out of life, like you can exit out of a website (I know there's a lot of baggage that would come along with not having social media, but if it's harming you, you gotta do what's best for you) .

Wow! Not responding to any of my replies to two topics of yours!
Re: https://thephilosophyforum.com/discussion/comment/616706
Re: https://thephilosophyforum.com/discussion/comment/616744

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