A new study finds that preteens with addictive patterns of social media, video games, or mobile phones use are more likely to experience worse mental health and suicidal thoughts and behaviors.
I feel like it should be tacked on as a bell curve to older generations too lol. My grandmother and my parents are absolutely hopelessly addicted to Facebook reels, scrolling them nonstop throughout the day, just connecting those ads and wild algorithm messaging with those little dopamine hits.
I remember spending hours tinkering with Linux in my bedroom as a kid and being yelled at for being antisocial and not spending enough time off the computer.
I remember spending hours tinkering with Linux in my bedroom as a kid
I feel like the environment of subject-specific forums and IRC chat that Millennial geeks grew up with is very different from the centralised, generic, algorithm-driven social media that Gen Z grew up with, and non-geeky Millennials, Gen X, and Boomers adopted in the late aughts & '10s. That was really the best of what social media could do, with far fewer of the unhealthy downsides.
centralised, generic, algorithm-driven social media
Which is always within your fingers. I spent my fair time in IRC and early web-era forums and whatever we had at the time but it was on a full blown desktop computer with CRT displays. It was tied to a location and when you were even on another room that thing didn’t follow you, much less when you left home.
I feel like it should be tacked on as a bell curve to older generations too lol. My grandmother and my parents are absolutely hopelessly addicted to Facebook reels, scrolling them nonstop throughout the day, just connecting those ads and wild algorithm messaging with those little dopamine hits.
I remember spending hours tinkering with Linux in my bedroom as a kid and being yelled at for being antisocial and not spending enough time off the computer.
How the turns have tabled
I feel like the environment of subject-specific forums and IRC chat that Millennial geeks grew up with is very different from the centralised, generic, algorithm-driven social media that Gen Z grew up with, and non-geeky Millennials, Gen X, and Boomers adopted in the late aughts & '10s. That was really the best of what social media could do, with far fewer of the unhealthy downsides.
Which is always within your fingers. I spent my fair time in IRC and early web-era forums and whatever we had at the time but it was on a full blown desktop computer with CRT displays. It was tied to a location and when you were even on another room that thing didn’t follow you, much less when you left home.