Are social networks unhealthy for minors?
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@evan@cosocial.ca through high school both my parents worked and i was largely left on my own in the house with my 3 siblings. between the age of 13-17 i was in a lot of public discord servers and met a wide variety of people, who shared my extremely crude and childish sense of humor at that time. it was quite nice having human company, even if it was from all over the world and not down the street.
however i also had one too many experiences of being DM'd "i did it again :333" or "reply or ill really jump" when I was the ripe age of 14 sipping on root beer and eating chips.
and apparently im not alone in that experience of becoming an uncertified discord therapist because i know so many people who experienced a similar deal, or otherwise wound up in petty internet drama with The Most Insufferable People Ever.
The internet is such an unbelievably varied space that its impossible to really quantify in one number or sentence how healthy it is. It'll be a spin at the roulette table on what you find any given day on any given platform, and with every conceivable human concept available with a bash of a keyboard, anyone can access anything.
I believe that knowledge should not be constrained and social networks often are the gateway to the most up to date conversations on current events and evolving knowledge, with an equal part of rot. -
@evan children should be allowed to talk to other children. It's what we did growing up.
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@evan some social networks are sometimes unhealthy for many people, including but not limited to minors ("no, but...")
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@evan do another one but leave out the "for minors" part
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@evan ah. I now see where the support for the privacy invasion legislation is coming from.
the idea that children should sit silent, isolated, and inert, until their 18th birthday whereupon they magically gain all the skills needed to live well is what's unhealthy for children.
just let them live their lives with unconditional agency, love, and support. I guarantee you it is better. sometimes they might go online! you are just going to have to find a way to deal with that, team.
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Conceptually, no. An online social space isnt automatically anything but social
But as created and run currently, by people and corporate entities who design social networks to maximize engagement by outrage and do not design for healthy use?
That's bad for basically everyone, especially kids who are still learning to navigate their physical social spaces.
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children need active and effective supervision and some on social networks have it but some don't. social networks are dangerous for children who don't have that supervision. it's the same with irl social networks.
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@evan do another one but leave out the "for minors" part
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@evan
Twitter and Facebook - Yes, absolutely.
Mastodon and the rest of Fedi... no, but parental discretion is advised! -
@evan I think it depends on how they're used, and I think it's mostly the commercial social networks that are unhealthy, and not just for minors. Having your opinions and knowledge of current events shaped by a corporate entity is unquestionably bad. I don't think minors are significantly more susceptible to that external manipulation than adults are.
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@evan I never felt like SoundCloud was unhealthy, or IRC back in my days. But yes the so called social media that is just algorithmic based spitting out horseshit of content and bullshit ads absolutely are.
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@metacosm @evan the more I think about it, the more I find social networks are like alcohol
highly addictive, makes you dependent
bad for your mental health
makes you see you things and turn you violent
makes you DUI, crash a car and kill people
rehab exists
…so children should never use itmastodon is probably the lightest beer of social networks, but still very dangerous and we should all be very careful indeed
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@kleisli @evan Also, performing is exhausting. Social networks train people to perform 24/7.
You take a picture but it’s not for your personal album, it’s for many likes.
You post something and keep waiting for someone else to reply, or worried about others might think.
An entire generation grew up not knowing what is having a private thought
@renata I agree 100% and this does not exclude the fediverse.
For me it is very ambivalent. I enjoy it being able to discuss with people like you or @evan - this only happens with social media (including forums or mailing lists). But at the same time there is that FOMO and the feeling that I need to perform and post smart answers. -
@evan yes, but they can also be one of the only safe spaces/resourses for certain marginalized youths (broken homes, lgbtq kids, disabled kids, etc) and i honestly think preventing this abuse is worth the risks.
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@kleisli @evan Also, performing is exhausting. Social networks train people to perform 24/7.
You take a picture but it’s not for your personal album, it’s for many likes.
You post something and keep waiting for someone else to reply, or worried about others might think.
An entire generation grew up not knowing what is having a private thought
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@evan No, the GAFAM are unhealthy for minors.
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@evan Wow, there are people who reply no to this! Fascinating... I'll chalk that up to people conflating "social network" with "social media" I guess...
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@evan Wow, there are people who reply no to this! Fascinating... I'll chalk that up to people conflating "social network" with "social media" I guess...
@resl what's the difference?
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@evan What I meant to say is that I think the way social networks work at the moment are overall unhealthy for us. The reason I'm here is that I see this as the most likely place to improve the situation.
