NYC Mayor Calls Social Media an 'Environmental Toxin,' Announces It on Social Media

K1nsey6 , 5 months ago

What he hates about social media is that it exposed his as being a POS

kusuriya , 5 months ago

Is this where we say "takes one to know one?"

aberrate_junior_beatnik , 5 months ago

Headline has real "you want to improve society yet you participate in it" vibes

otter , 5 months ago

Eh, I don't know the wider context around this but the headlines criticism doesn't seem valid.

Makes me think of the "you criticize society and yet you live in it" meme. It's fine to use social media and still talk about the harms. It's also fine to try and regulate the social media companies while still using social media, In the same way that it's fine for environmental activists to travel for their work.

There's nuance to it and it's still possible for hypocrisy to occur, but I don't see it here (from my quick skim)

postnataldrip , 5 months ago

Agreed, and I guess if you want to raise awareness of the harms of something it makes sense to engage with the people doing that thing.

Veedem , 5 months ago

Chefs kiss for that headline.

autotldr Bot , 5 months ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:

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But unlike guns and tobacco, widespread beliefs about social media’s mental health risks aren’t necessarily backed up by science, a fact you can read about in New York City’s own advisory about the subject.

“The most recent data in 2021, 38% of NYC high schoolers felt so sad or hopeless during the past year that they stopped engaging in their usual activities,” a problem that disproportionately affected young people identifying as Black, Latino, female, or LGBTQ+ in particular.

New York’s public health advisory follows a similar declaration from US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy in May 2023, which saw the nation’s top doctor warning that there are “ample indicators that social media can also have a profound risk of harm to the mental health and well-being of children and adolescents.” You might note the phrase “ample indicators” in that statement, however, which is worth a minute of consideration.

The platforms are responsible for spreading hate speech, turning conspiracy theories and misinformation into a full-blown societal crisis, fueling terrorism and drug cartels, and an endless and ever-growing list of other horrors.

The companies behind these sites are well aware of these problems, and they promise, hand to god, that they feel awful about the whole thing and it’s going to get better soon if you just wait—though, if you’re worried about your health, you might not want to hold your breath.

A recent study found that a social media detox did not improve mental health in an experiment that asked participants to stay offline.

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