There has been a lot of chatter on these apps recently. Politically there are stances around data privacy, freedom of speech, cyber security, propaganda, etc. You don’t have to search hard to get an opinion around these apps and any of these listed topics and more.
I am going to try and not get into that mud if possible with this post, but I do have thoughts on all of the above. But what I want to share my thoughts on is more around overall usage of these apps by adults and teens.
“Tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are”
– Anthelme Brillat-Savarin
Or put another way, “You are what you eat” this French lawyer wrote this around 1862. It was more regarding around consumption of food. But I believe we can still apply this to the topic of consuming digital content.
It is estimated that 50% of a teen’s time awake is spent online. Combine this what we know about the impact dopamine has on the brain and social media is just a massive dopamine generator this overindulgence can lead to :
- less curiosity
- lower self-control
- more distractibility
- more difficulty making friends
- less emotional stability
- being more difficult to care for
- inability to finish tasks
Do I think the apps need to be banned because of this? No, I do believe that is the responsibility of the parents to manage what, when, where, and how often consumption of digital content.
I am still reading Jaron Lanier’s book “Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now” and what he shares I agree with is that social media in general, regardless of the platform have algorithms that are engineered to keep you scrolling and consuming so that more ad revenue is generated. Regardless of what these companies say, its whatever content keeps you engaged.
If you lean politically left, it will be any content true, fake, or conspiracy to keep you scrolling, reading, and listening. If you lean politically right, it will be any content true, fake, or conspiracy to keep you scrolling, reading, and listening. What ends up happening is that we become polarized to an opposing person’s views and each side starts to think and believe that the other person is some sort of extremist.
What I think we all should be asking ourselves is are we allowing the content we are consuming to very slowly pivot our thoughts, opinions, and beliefs to mirror that of another party or are we still taking time to do our own research and develop our own opinions?
If you are looking for resources on how to manage content on your devices be it frequency, type, etc. You can go here to learn more.
Resources – TMGT
Sources
Common Sense Media – The Common Sense Census: Media Use by Tweens and Teens
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/research/the-common-sense-census-media-use-by-tweens-and-teens
Pew Research Center – Teens, Social Media & Technology
https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2018/05/31/teens-social-media-technology-2018/
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) – How Much Sleep Do I Need?
https://www.cdc.gov/sleep/about_sleep/how_much_sleep.html
What’s the origin of the phrase ‘You are what you eat’?
https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/you-are-what-you-eat.html
Main findings: Teens, technology, and human potential in 2020
https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2012/02/29/main-findings-teens-technology-and-human-potential-in-2020/
TMGT 
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