Sadly social
Does social media make you sad? The thought of it might make me sad. Some research suggests that social media use affects young, developing brains most, causing teens to suffer long-term consequences from being connected online too much, too early in their lives. Which most likely overstates an observed phenomenon, as does much reporting on such matters.
Arnold Kling pulls out several straws and weaves us a basket case of social-media-derived depression. To begin with, as described, it looks as if leftism itself is something of a form of neuroticism. The more dedicated leftist youngsters may be motivated by a sense of unease about the future, fed them by older leftist activists. So goes the claim. But I’m not so sure it’s something exclusive to the ideological left.
Kling points to an unorthodox leftist, Matt Yglesias, who analyzed recent research:
The catalog of woes offered in the paper sounds less to me like a causal explanation of why progressive teens have more depressive affect than it does like listening to a depressed liberal give an account of recent American politics. Note for example the negative framing of the fact that progressives have used their agenda-setting power to make structural racism, pervasive sexism, and rampant socioeconomic inequality into unavoidable features of political discourse. One could instead say this is what the path to victory looks like — progressive activists and intellectuals have succeeded in getting more people to pay attention to what they think are the most important problems.
Mentally processing ambiguous events with a negative spin is just what depression is. And while the finding that liberals are disproportionately likely to do it is interesting and important, it’s not sound practice to celebrate that or tell them that they are right to do it.
That makes some sense. News is about reporting on what’s wrong. Politics is about complaining about it long and loudly enough to force politicians and government to do something about it. And pervasive media means everyone wallows in all that combined misery most of the time. If leftists are the arbiters of what the media blare at us, it stands to reason that leftism will be the most depressing—just because it’s most available.
The good news is that you can turn it off and brighten your life. Along the way, you might be able to find some youngsters drowning in the gloom and inspire them to turn off the news and politics, choosing instead to do something else for a while.
They are. Our sons friends are scattered and Discord has a group call feature, so the play online games together and talk. And I have a better chance of getting him to answer Discord than I do of him hearing the home phone.
The tech they are not obsessive about is cell phones. Their phones get forgotten on the dining room table once they walk in the door.
The only social media my children are on is Discord, which is an app that lets you set up and moderate your own network. Nothing shows up that an invited member didn't post. It was a godsend during Covid. We have a family network as well, far more effective communication than email or texts.