Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

CategorySocial Media

lonely-young-woman-feeling-depressed-and-stressed-sitting-head-in-hands-in-the-dark-bedroom-negative-emotion-and-mental-health-concept-stockpack-adobe-stock
Lonely young woman feeling depressed and stressed sitting head in hands in the dark bedroom, Negative emotion and mental health concept
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post
Author
News
Date
February 23, 2023
Categorized
Social Media
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Social Media Researcher Calls CDC Report “The Last Straw”

When will we finally start listening to struggling teens?
News
February 23, 2023
2
Social Media

Social psychologist and researcher Jean Twenge calls the latest CDC report on youth behavior “the last straw.” After years of raising the alarm about the negative effects of social media like Instagram and Snapchat on teens, particularly females, Twenge finds the situation direr than ever. It’s time to wake up and actually listen to the suffering of teens. Twenge writes in a recent post from the Institute for Family Studies, Contrary to popular belief, teen girls do not deny that social media plays a role in their misery. In Meta’s internal research on Instagram, leaked in 2021, teens frequently blamed the pressures of social media for their generation’s high rates of depression (“this reaction was unprompted and consistent across all groups,” one Read More ›

revival
Arms raised in worship
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post
Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
February 21, 2023
Categorized
Addiction, Social Media
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The Asbury Revival and the Cure for TikTok

In the age of social media addiction, young people need to know they can be imperfect and yet loved
Robert J. Marks
February 21, 2023
3
Addiction, Social Media

Social media portrays a world where everybody is happy and having a good time. Everybody, of course, except for you. There must therefore be something wrong with you. You are a loser. Teenage boys without girlfriends feel like social freaks. One in three teenage girls who use social media suffers from  body image issues   Social Media and Depression Young adults who use social media are three times as likely to suffer from depression. Depression can lead to suicide. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, female suicides aged 15-24 increased by 87 percent over the past 20 years and male suicides increased by 30 percent. The American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry says suicide is now Read More ›

texas statehouse
American and Texas state flags flying on the dome of the Texas State Capitol building in Austin
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post
Author
Peter Biles
Date
February 6, 2023
Categorized
China, Social Media
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No More TikTok for State Agencies in Texas

Tenuous US-China relations may prompt other state legislatures to follow in Abbott’s footsteps
Peter Biles
February 6, 2023
2
China, Social Media

Governor Greg Abbott of Texas called for a ban of TikTok from all state agencies this week. Agencies have until February 15th to accommodate to the policy, which entails removing the social media app from all devices used to carry out official Texas-related business. The new ruling will also involve restricting access to TikTok usage on personal devices in potentially “sensitive locations and meetings.” TikTok, owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, Ltd., has been criticized for mining data from its American users. Since the Chinese government can demand data disclosures from businesses, Gov. Abbott thinks TikTok is an issue of state and national security: TikTok harvests significant amounts of data from a user’s device, including details about a user’s internet Read More ›

phone in the dark
Asian woman playing game on smartphone in the bed at night,Thailand people,Addict social media
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post
Author
Peter Biles
Date
January 31, 2023
Categorized
Social Media
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Surgeon General Says 13 is Too Young to Have Social Media

The public official warned against the addictive nature of social media and how it affects children's self worth
Peter Biles
January 31, 2023
3
Social Media

U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy believes that age 13 is too young for children to start using social media, noting that their sense of self is still developing. Murthy gave his remarks on “CNN Newsroom,” saying, I, personally, based on the data I’ve seen, believe that 13 is too early … It’s a time where it’s really important for us to be thoughtful about what’s going into how they think about their own self-worth and their relationships and the skewed and often distorted environment of social media often does a disservice to many of those children.” Murthy’s remarks go hand in hand with a formidable body of research that shows the negative correlation between social media use and teens’ mental Read More ›

group-of-young-teen-using-smart-phone-for-internet-online-with-happy-feeling-stockpack-adobe-stock
Group of young teen using smart phone for internet online with happy feeling
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post
Author
News
Date
January 27, 2023
Categorized
Social Media
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What To Do About Destructive Social Media?

Social media consists largely of "free" services that charge by taking time-slices of one's life. Is that fact outweighing the positive effects?
News
January 27, 2023
6
Social Media

(This article by Karl D. Stephan originally appeared at Engineering Ethics Blog (January 23, 2023) under the title “Conservative Futurism and the Internet,” and is reprinted with permission.) In the Winter 2023 issue of The New Atlantis, lawyer and author John Ehrett points out that the bloom of enthusiasm that greeted the advent of the Internet has now faded from that particular rose.  There is now a consensus that the negative effects of social media in particular, and also the whole economic basis of “free” services that charge by taking time-slices of one’s life, may have begun to outweigh the positive effects.  The question is, what to do about it? Rather than simply parrot various policy ideas that are floating around—as he puts Read More ›

boy with iphone
Young man watching a live streaming on his phone
Type
post
Author
Peter Biles
Date
January 26, 2023
Categorized
Neuroscience, Social Media
Tagged

Researchers Find Social Media Affects Amygdala in Kids

Study finds that social media apps heighten sensitivity to peer approval in social settings
Peter Biles
January 26, 2023
2
Neuroscience, Social Media

A recent study from the University of North Carolina found that social media use affected the brain matter in children, particularly the amygdala, which processes reward and punishment. Per an article from Neoscope, an imprint of Futurism, Researchers from the University of North Carolina have found, in one of the first studies of its kind, that habitually checking social feeds may change the ways early adolescents process social rewards and punishments — changes concrete enough that they can be seen as distinct and divergent neural pathways in brain scans.” Noor Al-Sabai, Scientists Find Something Strange in Brain Scans of Kids Hooked on Social Media (futurism.com) The researchers found that students who checked social media more frequently experienced greater sensitivity to their Read More ›

in love with the screen
Statue receiving hearts on social media using cellphone, Valentine's day concept art, keeping distance
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post
Author
Peter Biles
Date
January 24, 2023
Categorized
Social Media

Will TikTok Handicap an Entire Generation?

Today’s weapons may look less like nuclear warheads and more like a mind-numbing app on your phone
Peter Biles
January 24, 2023
5
Social Media

Since hitting the app store in 2017, millions have downloaded TikTok, the “social” video media platform. It’s since become the most popular app ever created. Instagram is adapting its algorithms and layout to emulate its looming rival, and kids too young to read are scrolling through videos that range from the ridiculous to the crass to the semi-pornographic. A friend of mine, who no longer has the app, commented that when he did have it downloaded, he spent hours on it before at night before falling asleep. “It would be ten or eleven o’clock and then I’d check my watch it would be, like, four a.m,” he said. “It was bad.” TikTok is owned by the Chinese video-sharing company ByteDance. Read More ›

jacinda-ardern-flag
Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern
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post
Author
News
Date
January 23, 2023
Categorized
Censorship, Media, Social Media
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Jacinda Ardern’s War on Free Speech Always Deserved To Fail

Now researchers have shown why. The departing New Zealand Prime Minister claimed that “prolific misinformation” is a new weapon of war
News
January 23, 2023
5
Censorship, Media, Social Media

This piece by MercatorNet editor Michael Cook (January 20, 2023) is reprinted with permission. In October last year, the Prime Minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern, told the United Nations General Assembly that what the world needs is less free speech.   Well, not exactly that, but close enough. She pressed for vigorous censorship of the internet because “prolific misinformation” is a new weapon of war. “How do you successfully end a war if people are led to believe the reason for its existence is not only legal but noble?” she asked. “How do you tackle climate change if people do not believe it exists?” The prospect of government censorship of our views on climate change or the war in Ukraine is Read More ›

monk praying in forest
Monk figure praying in the forest
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post
Author
Peter Biles
Date
January 20, 2023
Categorized
Social Media, Spirituality
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Do You Struggle to Focus? Medieval Monks Did Too

New book shows how ancient monks fought distraction and what they can teach us today
Peter Biles
January 20, 2023
4
Social Media, Spirituality

While the battle against constant distraction might seem like a new problem posed by our diffuse technologies, a new book from Jamie Kreiner argues that the struggle is perennial. The book is The Wandering Mind: What Medieval Monks Tell Us About Distraction. Kreiner takes the problem of distraction and puts it into the hands of the religious recluses of late antiquity. It turns out they had a lot to say. Like us, they struggled to maintain vigorous work routines. They courted the opinions of other monks and writers on what a modern-day LinkedIn guru would call “workflow” or “hustle.” In short, they were not so different from us. In his review of the book for Wired, Matt Reynolds writes, Early Read More ›

cigarette against black canvas
Cigarette with ashes isolated on black background
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post
Author
Peter Biles
Date
January 19, 2023
Categorized
Social Media
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New Article Compares Big Tech to “Big Tobacco” of the ’70s

Like smoking in the 1970s — known to be dangerous yet poorly regulated — Big Tech is harming kids today yet is met with little intervention or pushback
Peter Biles
January 19, 2023
4
Social Media

In a new article from Deseret News, Brad Wilcox and Riley Peterson equate Big Tech to “Big Tobacco.” They argue that the online world has the same dangers and negative effects as other drugs, and go on to cite alarming mental health data to back up their claims. Similar to how smoking was found to be dangerous in the 1970s and yet poorly regulated by the government, Big Tech is harming kids today yet is met with little intervention or pushback.  They start with a powerful analogical anecdote, writing, Imagine if a man in a white panel van pulled up in your neighborhood and began enticing teens to look at pictures and videos featuring drug use, pornography and a range Read More ›

sample-social-media-app-interface-on-mobile-phone-showing-shared-video-content-stockpack-adobe-stock
Sample social media app interface on mobile phone showing shared video content
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post
Author
Peter Biles
Date
January 17, 2023
Categorized
Social Media
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Girl Tragically Dies After Doing Horrific TikTok Challenge

The 12-year-old from Argentina isn't the only victim of the fatal TikTok "blackout challenge"
Peter Biles
January 17, 2023
2
Social Media

A 12-year-old girl from Argentina died after trying the dangerous “choke challenge” on TikTok, per the New York Post. The girl, Milagros Soto, was found in a closet hanging from a makeshift noose on January 13th. Soto’s family members think she was bullied and challenged to perform the horrible online fad while at school. Soto isn’t the only casualty of the TikTok challenge, which involves asphyxiating oneself until passing out. It’s also only one of many “fatal fads” circulating the TikTok sphere. Also known as the “blackout challenge,” Tiktok users chase virality and clout by forcing themselves to pass out. In light of the tragic death, people are begging parents to prohibit TikTok from their children. Several Twitter users spoke Read More ›

multi-racial-friends-scrolling-smartphones-ignoring-each-other-gadget-addiction-stockpack-adobe-stock
Multi-racial friends scrolling smartphones ignoring each other, gadget addiction
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post
Author
News
Date
January 13, 2023
Categorized
Addiction, Social Media
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Andrew McDiarmid and Eric Metaxas on Thinking for Ourselves

Social media makes it very easy to farm out thinking until finally we do not know what or even whether we think
News
January 13, 2023
4
Addiction, Social Media

Recently, Andrew McDiarmid wrote a piece in the New York Post on the neglected benefits of sitting quietly and thinking for oneself: … a recent study reported in the Journal of Experimental Psychology suggests that the act of “just thinking” can be more rewarding than we might realize. The authors of the paper acknowledge that the ability to engage in internal thoughts without external stimulation is a unique characteristic in humans, yet we regularly underappreciate the benefits of doing it. This might be one reason we’re so quick to reach for our phones — we don’t know what we’re missing. Andrew McDiarmid, “If you make one resolution in 2023, it should be this: experts” at New York Post (December 31, Read More ›

cancel-culture-society-concept-or-cultural-cancellation-and-social-media-censorship-as-canceling-or-restricting-opinions-that-are-offensive-or-controversial-to-the-public-stockpack-adobe-stock
Cancel Culture society concept or cultural cancellation and social media censorship as canceling or restricting opinions that are offensive or controversial to the public
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post
Author
News
Date
January 13, 2023
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Censorship, Social Media
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Twitter files 13 and 14… plus the critical bigger picture

Growing distrust of mainstream media should be supplemented by scrutiny among users of Big Tech social media. They're not an answer to the problem.
News
January 13, 2023
6
Censorship, Social Media

First, as Elon Musk continues to dump the files out the window at Twitter — to the dismay of the media elite that generally knew and approved of censorship of views other than their own, especially where COVID-19 or U.S. federal politics was concerned: Twitter files 13: Handled by independent journalist Alex Berenson — once banned from Twitter for criticizing the government response to the pandemic: “Pfizer board member Scott Gottlieb secretly pressed Twitter to hide posts challenging his company’s massively profitable Covid jabs /To funnel his demands, Gottlieb used the same Twitter lobbyist the White House did – fresh evidence of overlap between the company selling mRNA shots and the government forcing them on the public.” 4/ In October Read More ›

twitter blue bird on brown tree branch.jpg
blue bird on brown tree branch
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post
Author
News
Date
January 9, 2023
Categorized
Censorship, Social Media
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What? Twitter is “neutral”? A thoughtful engineer responds

Despite appearances, Twitter is not a conventional public square, but a private corporation
News
January 9, 2023
7
Censorship, Social Media

This column by Texas State University engineering prof Karl Stephan is republished with thanks from Engineering Ethics (January 2, 2023) Back when I started this blog in 2006, the phrase “social media” was hardly used by anybody, according to Google Trends.  It began to climb above 1% of its current frequency of use around 2008, possibly in connection with the elections of that year, and has been climbing ever since.  Twitter, the social-media format that has become the default medium of choice for announcements by Presidents on down, was also founded in 2006.  From an obscure techie-speak term, it has turned into a routine and near-universal medium of expression that its leadership has claimed is as neutral as they can make it.  But Read More ›

an-internet-email-symbol-and-a-group-of-people-are-separated-by-a-red-prohibitory-symbol-no-restrictions-on-access-to-the-global-internet-censorship-information-control-society-isolation-policy-stockpack-adobe-stock
An internet email symbol and a group of people are separated by a red prohibitory symbol No. restrictions on access to the global Internet. Censorship. Information control, society isolation policy
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post
Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
January 5, 2023
Categorized
Censorship, Social Media
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Big Tech Censorship Goes Well Beyond Twitter

Big Tech media is not, in itself, an answer to current legacy mainstream media if we would like to know information that our betters would prefer that we didn't
Denyse O'Leary
January 5, 2023
6
Censorship, Social Media

The big news (if it is even news) is that most Big Tech media are involved in censorship of opinions disapproved by the governing elite. Elon Musk has certainly shone a light by buying Twitter and releasing the house files to independent journalists. Legacy media entities still refuse to cover the story seriously (probably because they cannot take inevitable further blows to their relevance, numbers, or prestige) First, some updates on the Twitter Files via indie journalist Matt Taibbi: Twitter files 11 deals with — among other things — the way Twitter was pressured in 2016 by political friends, then out of power, to discover that there was Russian involvement in the outcome of the U.S. 2016 election. Twitter was Read More ›

beardy-guy-sitting-alone-on-a-river-coast-enjoying-the-sunset-thinking-stockpack-adobe-stock
beardy guy sitting alone on a river coast, enjoying the sunset, thinking
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post
Author
Andrew McDiarmid
Date
January 2, 2023
Categorized
Addiction, Education, Social Media
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If You Make One Resolution in 2023, It Should Be This: Experts

Humans were born to think. To pause in order to think. Excessive social media use disrupts that ability
Andrew McDiarmid
January 2, 2023
4
Addiction, Education, Social Media

This story originally appeared at the New York Post (December 31, 2022) Remember those bathroom readers filled with trivia, factoids, and stories? They’ve been entertaining in the throne room since 1988. Though the 35th anniversary edition came out last fall, it probably won’t hit the bestseller lists.  The truth is most of us have something else to distract us in the bathroom — our smartphones. We pull them out on the john, at stoplights, in line at checkout, while we pump gas — virtually anywhere we have to wait for more than ten seconds. The lure of social stimuli gives us a dopamine hit that keeps us coming back any time we get a minute.  But what if we’re cheating ourselves out Read More ›

white glove stage
Hand in a white glove pulling curtain away
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post
Author
Nathan Jacobson
Date
January 1, 2023
Categorized
Censorship, Social Media
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Google: Rank Censorship Behind the Scenes

We live under a state of highly sophisticated and ubiquitous suppression of disfavored voices
Nathan Jacobson
January 1, 2023
10
Censorship, Social Media

One year ago today (January 1st, 2022) we saw behind the curtain at Google. With vast information scattered across a billion websites, whoever controls the search algorithm largely controls information. And if Google.com were a stage, the spotlight is centered squarely on the first result, with some ambient light spilling onto a few supporting roles. The second page results are essentially extras, unlikely to catch the attention of the audience at all. About 25% of web searchers click that first result. Another 50% follow one of the next half-dozen. A scant 6% will ever make it to the second page.* If your breaking news, breakthrough product, or bold opinion piece isn’t in a starring role on that first page, it will languish Read More ›

hairdressers-hands-with-scissors-new-normal-concept-copy-space-stay-safe-health-protection-equipment-during-quarantine-coronavirus-pandemic-covid-19-stockpack-adobe-stock
Hairdresser's hands with scissors. New normal concept. Copy space. Stay safe. Health protection equipment during quarantine Coronavirus pandemic. Covid 19
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post
Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
December 28, 2022
Categorized
Censorship, Social Media
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How Twitter Cut Off a Reasoned Discussion of the COVID Response

Three more takeaways (7-9) as the story gets deeper — and of greater concern to those who believe that a free flow of information makes for a healthier society
Denyse O'Leary
December 28, 2022
6
Censorship, Social Media

First, last January, John West reflected at Evolution News and Science Today about the rise of totalitarian science, as shown by the way COVID was managed: The COVID era also has seen a dramatic rise of censorship in the name of science. We are told continuously now that “misinformation” or “disinformation” must be stopped. No decent person favors the spread of “misinformation.” But who is to judge what constitutes “misinformation”? Those warning of “misinformation” seem to assume that existing elites are always right, and so they should be in charge of determining what is true or false. But anyone conversant with the history of science or government knows that this claim can’t hold up to scrutiny. Neither elite scientists nor Read More ›

washington-dc-fbi-building-on-pennsylvania-street-stockpack-adobe-stock
Washington DC - FBI Building on Pennsylvania Street
Type
post
Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
December 22, 2022
Categorized
Censorship, Social Media
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Three More Key Takeaways From the Twitter Files and Their Fallout

The FBI responds to the Twitter files: “Conspiracy theorists” are feeding the public “misinformation.” This isn't helping its reputation
Denyse O'Leary
December 22, 2022
6
Censorship, Social Media

Key takeaways 1–3 are here. 4.Yes, the FBI finally responded to the Twitter files revelations about its cozy relationship with Twitter. And the response could be straight out of a bent cop novel: The Federal Bureau of Investigation is responding to Twitter Files revealing that the agency regularly contacted employees at the social media giant to notify them of accounts that “may” constitute violations of the company’s terms of service. FBI officials told Fox News that the agency didn’t ask Twitter employees to “take action” based on the information provided, and said the information was provided so that Twitter employees can make a determination on whether to take action. “We are providing it so that they can take whatever action Read More ›

an-internet-email-symbol-and-a-group-of-people-are-separated-by-a-red-prohibitory-symbol-no-restrictions-on-access-to-the-global-internet-censorship-information-control-society-isolation-policy-stockpack-adobe-stock
An internet email symbol and a group of people are separated by a red prohibitory symbol No. restrictions on access to the global Internet. Censorship. Information control, society isolation policy
Type
post
Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
December 20, 2022
Categorized
Censorship, Social Media
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Three Key Takeaways From the Twitter Files and Their Fallout

Twitter Files 7 dropped yesterday and it features the close relationship between Twitter and the FBI
Denyse O'Leary
December 20, 2022
5
Censorship, Social Media

From the news: Do you think the pandemic response might have gone differently if voices such as yours were not suppressed? Yes… I do really believe censorship kills, and censorship killed during this pandemic. The policies could have been so much better… The policies that were adopted were incredibly damaging to the lives and livelihoods of so many people. 100million people thrown into poverty worldwide: that’s the estimate from the World Bank. Just the consequences of that itself are going to have tremendous effects on the lives and livelihoods of people going forward. And of course, all these children were robbed of an education for years. Those are absolutely monumental outcomes of the policies we adopted during the pandemic, and Read More ›