I'm fresh off of watching The Social Dilemma (2020) https://thesocialdilemma.com/ and am feeling pretty spooked about social media in general, and I'm saying this as someone who posts regularly on TikTok! I'm also a social scientist using TikTok to research medical conversations. But the thing that I'm struggling with is how Tech companies are incentivized to maintain ours and our kids' attention within the apps, which is documented in The Social Dilemma. The upshot being that we're a species captivated by moving pictures and easily manipulated, and that our digital native kids aren't able to have enough reference points outside of this paradigm to envision an alternative (I'm not fully sold on that point). But it feels like an updated warning of Gil-Scott Heron's "The revolution will not be televised," which is a powerful and relevant contestation of our evolving screen-based culture.
In discussions with the college students I teach in gen ed English, they have been unanimous in their desire for some top-down regulation on social media. They confess to basically feeling hurt/damaged/confused by their on/off addictions to social media apps and they wish there was political will behind limiting their exposure to them in the first place. I was completely surprised by this narrative when I heard it across a number of student led discussions.
I'll be the first to say that I've genuinely connected with people on TikTok. I've had a number of off-app text threads, phone calls, and zoom meetings because of the app. When I thought it was going away on Sunday, I downloaded all my content, comments, and transcripts for my research, too, only to reopen the app less than 24 hours later to a hyperpoliticized message that appeared to reiterate the thesis of The Social Dilemma, which is that although these platforms seem to offer positive benefits toward human connection, there is a much more sinister agenda at play related to political polarization and social control.
This is all leading up to my question, which is, have you seen The Social Dilemma? And is there any research in your world about the implications of the social infrastructure of these apps on our kids, rather than just their immediate impacts from viewing time or types of content consumed? Maybe restating this... are there "big picture" critiques people in your field have about social media? I know you're a psychologist, not a political scientist, but I'm curious about if this aspect of social media is brought up?
With all due respect, Dr. Nesi, doesn't your #2 point contradict your #3? Isn't your middle section (responsibly) providing that same narrative? "Despite a national desire to put our fingers in our ears and scream “la-la-la,” kids under 13 are using these platforms. We need to either do a better job of preventing that, or make the platforms safer for kids that age. Academic Pediatrics." I don't disagree with you per se (that the narrative is unfortunate, bad-newsy) but I think the point is that many of those news outlets are responsibly using research and data as well and the costs just weigh a lot—they outweigh the benefits esp. when we're talking about kids and young adolescents. No? I've tried to look beyond journalism (although I support journalism and media outlets that still employ fact-checkers) for evidence (studies, experts on podcasts) and I still see way more costs than benefits.
I don’t think she’s fear-mongering in her statement. That’s the distinction between the sections as I read it. I also took “national desire” to basically mean parents, because anecdotally I also see many parents ignoring what their kids do online while also complaining about social media.
I don't think either of us used the term fear-mongering, though. I used the word 'responsibly'a few times. I don't think fear-mongering is responsible. Just wanted to clarify that, thanks Aris!
I'm fresh off of watching The Social Dilemma (2020) https://thesocialdilemma.com/ and am feeling pretty spooked about social media in general, and I'm saying this as someone who posts regularly on TikTok! I'm also a social scientist using TikTok to research medical conversations. But the thing that I'm struggling with is how Tech companies are incentivized to maintain ours and our kids' attention within the apps, which is documented in The Social Dilemma. The upshot being that we're a species captivated by moving pictures and easily manipulated, and that our digital native kids aren't able to have enough reference points outside of this paradigm to envision an alternative (I'm not fully sold on that point). But it feels like an updated warning of Gil-Scott Heron's "The revolution will not be televised," which is a powerful and relevant contestation of our evolving screen-based culture.
In discussions with the college students I teach in gen ed English, they have been unanimous in their desire for some top-down regulation on social media. They confess to basically feeling hurt/damaged/confused by their on/off addictions to social media apps and they wish there was political will behind limiting their exposure to them in the first place. I was completely surprised by this narrative when I heard it across a number of student led discussions.
I'll be the first to say that I've genuinely connected with people on TikTok. I've had a number of off-app text threads, phone calls, and zoom meetings because of the app. When I thought it was going away on Sunday, I downloaded all my content, comments, and transcripts for my research, too, only to reopen the app less than 24 hours later to a hyperpoliticized message that appeared to reiterate the thesis of The Social Dilemma, which is that although these platforms seem to offer positive benefits toward human connection, there is a much more sinister agenda at play related to political polarization and social control.
This is all leading up to my question, which is, have you seen The Social Dilemma? And is there any research in your world about the implications of the social infrastructure of these apps on our kids, rather than just their immediate impacts from viewing time or types of content consumed? Maybe restating this... are there "big picture" critiques people in your field have about social media? I know you're a psychologist, not a political scientist, but I'm curious about if this aspect of social media is brought up?
PS I'm not an expert but I also see the costs with my own eyeballs and that's something too :)
With all due respect, Dr. Nesi, doesn't your #2 point contradict your #3? Isn't your middle section (responsibly) providing that same narrative? "Despite a national desire to put our fingers in our ears and scream “la-la-la,” kids under 13 are using these platforms. We need to either do a better job of preventing that, or make the platforms safer for kids that age. Academic Pediatrics." I don't disagree with you per se (that the narrative is unfortunate, bad-newsy) but I think the point is that many of those news outlets are responsibly using research and data as well and the costs just weigh a lot—they outweigh the benefits esp. when we're talking about kids and young adolescents. No? I've tried to look beyond journalism (although I support journalism and media outlets that still employ fact-checkers) for evidence (studies, experts on podcasts) and I still see way more costs than benefits.
I don’t think she’s fear-mongering in her statement. That’s the distinction between the sections as I read it. I also took “national desire” to basically mean parents, because anecdotally I also see many parents ignoring what their kids do online while also complaining about social media.
I don't think either of us used the term fear-mongering, though. I used the word 'responsibly'a few times. I don't think fear-mongering is responsible. Just wanted to clarify that, thanks Aris!