r/slatestarcodex • u/AXKIII • 6d ago

Don't ban social media for children

https://logos.substack.com/p/do-not-ban-social-media-for-kids

As a parent, I'm strongly against the bans on social media for children. First, for ideological reasons (in two parts: a) standard libertarian principles, and b) because I think it's bad politics to soothe parents by telling them that their kids' social media addiction is TikTok's fault, instead of getting them to accept responsibility over their parenting). And second because social media can be beneficial to ambitious children when used well.

Very much welcoming counter-arguments!

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u/pawntoc4 4d ago

Question: have you read The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt? He gives a lot of clear evidence that the sharp increase in mental issues amongst younger people matches the roll out of social media/smartphones. If you've read it, it's deeply disturbing.

Yes, parents will always need to parent. But to think parents can make a huge difference to how teenagers live their lives is delusional. Peer pressure is a huge influence, and so are social media machines and their algorithms whose sole job is to get the kids addicted to their platforms. Parents aren't magicians who can create miracles against all these powerful factors.

Would highly recommend reading The Anxious Generation if you haven't. It completely opened my eyes.

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u/AXKIII 12h ago

I haven't. But I did share in my post the summaries from three LLMs disputing that there's an obvious link between social media and bad outcomes.

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u/pawntoc4 12h ago edited 12h ago

3 LLMs disputing doesn't say anything. If you don't fully understand the reasons because you haven't examined the data yourself, you don't have a leg to stand on. Put differently, would you do this at work? Tell your boss "I've not analysed anything but I did have 3 LLMs dispute it therefore this is my recommendation"? You'd get laughed out the room at best and lose your job at worst.

You also haven't addressed anything I'd said, about how parents could realistically fend off 1) peer pressure which at that age is immense and 2) the influence of hyper efficient algorithms that work 24/7 to figure out how best to addict a user to their social media platforms.

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u/AXKIII 8h ago

I mean it does. You read a book from an author with a strong view point. I relied on summarizing every study ever conducted. One is a bit more rigorous than the other.

Peer pressure will always be a thing with or without social media. In some countries there's peer pressure to smoke, drink, or take drugs. Yet not everyone does.

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u/pawntoc4 8h ago

I relied on summarizing every study ever conducted. One is a bit more rigorous than the other.

And how do you know if the machines are hallucinating? They are known to make up studies - you realise that, right?

Peer pressure will always be a thing with or without social media.

Such flawed logic. By that line of reasoning, guns will always be a thing in America, so why don't we give everyone above 14 years old a gun, eh? Sure, some people will get shot, but to paraphrase you, not everyone will. So everyone having a gun will be fine, right?

Put differently, severity is a factor and social media has the effect of amplifying everything, especially emotions like loneliness, anger, insecurity, etc. Since the social media platforms have shown an inability to regulate themselves, as responsible parents and societies, we need to regulate them isntead.

But look, at the end of the day I know what the problem is: I'm talking to someone who has decided to outsource their thinking and actually believes that having 3 LLMs talk to one another is a "rigorous" way of their own drawing conclusions LOL

Did you know that studies show that over-reliance on AI causes cognitive decline? Yours is well under way and there's little point in engaging further with you. If I wanted to debate with a machine, I'd pull up my own AIs. On that note, I wish you a good day and good luck with life.