Social Media & Young People
From Dalle via OpenAI
Dear Friends,
When I was younger, I always somewhat despised the more strict families who had numerous rules for their children about what movies or activities were and were not allowed. I often viewed them as “prudish” and disconnected from the modern world.
It felt like a useless effort to control their kids, much like parents in previous generations who tried to stop their children from listening to Beatles songs, fearing it would cause them to be more expressive and free.
AND yet … I found myself reading about Surgeon General Vivek Murthy’s call for a Warning Label on social media platforms with a “Hell yes!” In the NYT Op-ed, he states:
“The mental health crisis among young people is an emergency.”
With adolescents spending almost 5 hours a day on the platforms, mainly on Tik Tok and Instagram, and almost half saying social media makes them feel worse about their bodies, we cannot just ignore this.
If we know something is hurting our children, wouldn’t we want to at least warn them ahead of time?
I do not think social media started with this intention, but sadly, it has become more and more focused on one task: Keep people's attention on the platforms at all costs! Some of the smartest people in the world are spending billions trying to tweak their algorithms to increase time on the networks … and AI is making that easier for them.
This is not about controlling young people’s behavior (though I think some control is needed) but it is more about simply acknowledging what we know: Five hours of social media is not healthy for sensitive, maturing, young humans.
The algorithms are getting so sophisticated, THIS IS NOT A FAIR FIGHT.
We will be sharing more about this effort, and also on our Wisdom and AI Summit this October 27th - 28th, where we will explore the impact of AI in the world.
Technology needs guardrails, and it is too much to expect tech companies to set them. We need to set them, and governments can help.
Blessings,
SOREN
Practice of Purpose Day Long
Take a deep dive with me into the place for purpose and meaning in our lives, and ways to cultivate it. Learn more HERE »»»
New Job
Personal Assistant & Communications Manager .. Learn more Here »»»
Thank you for sharing this. I agree wholeheartedly in a lot of ways, and yet I fear we are attempting to treat the symptom rather than the root cause of this dis-ease.
We all know that these technologies have the potential to be great and actually strengthen our connections with people around the world, but the problem is that the potential benefits to humanity are not the goal!
Instead the goal is profit, as usual. And so the consumer becomes the product in the age of information. Our attention is commodified and sold rather than using these platforms for our collective benefit.
This is not only a problem with social media, but with ALL media. And so I propose that these guard rails are put in place, not on the technology itself, but on the corporations that profit from human suffering.
Our collective wellbeing needs to be the priority. We've seen enough destruction for the sake of profit.
If I can use diet as an analogy: Rather than looking at a diet as restrictive, cutting something out of your daily eating habits, I have always found it more helpful to ADD something healthier. Replace some chips with an apple. Replace your bread, pasta, fries with AS MANY vegetables as you wish.
How can we encourage youth to ADD to their lives? I've heard that a good proportion of high school kids want to spend MORE time with their parents. What support do parents need to provide this? Social forces are real. I am all for a culture that de-prioritizes social media and screen time.