Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

CategorySocial Media

people-with-tv-screens-on-the-brain-addicted-to-social-media-manipulation-and-mind-control-by-media-teenager-disconnected-to-reality-stockpack-adobe-stock
People with TV screens on the brain, addicted to social media, manipulation and mind control, by media, teenager disconnected to reality

The Dark Art of Online “Nudging”: How to Protect Yourself

Organizations of all kinds use psychological tricks to move our minds as we browse — but a handy acronym helps detect them
The FORCES acronym helps us sense when a website, app, news report, or video source is nudging us to think and act in ways that perhaps we hadn’t expected. Read More ›
overwhelming-information-data-explode-out-of-head-of-young-human-brain-too-much-media-too-much-information-maximalism-news-social-media-addiction-coping-strategies-for-digital-overload-stockpack-adobe-stock
overwhelming information data explode out of head of young human brain, too much media, too much information, maximalism, news, social media addiction - coping strategies for digital overload

Social Media Cutting Into Your Sanity? Try the Great Unplug

Video producer Adam Nieri looks at the pros and cons of a post-AI world and recommends structured timeouts to regain perspective
Video producer Adam Nieri looks at the pros and cons of a post-AI world and recommends structured timeouts to regain perspective. Read More ›
womans-face-with-ai-wireframe-for-artificial-intelligence-deepfakes-and-facial-scanning-concepts-stockpack-adobe-stock
Woman's face with AI wireframe for artificial intelligence deepfakes and facial scanning concepts

YouTube Tries to Take Down Deepfake Impersonations… Well, Sort Of

The difficulty is, as the technology explodes, so does a minefield of complications
YouTube doesn’t want to harm its business model, which thrives on sensation and controversy but it must also avoid at all costs a legal and political powderkeg. Read More ›
censored-book-stockpack-adobe-stock
Censored book

View: Universities Should Not Speak Up Against Dissenting Profs!

Jay Bhattacharya and Wesley J. Smith respond to an article in a medical journal arguing that universities SHOULD censure dissenters on the faculty
How much good science would have seen the light in the last 600 years if “Institutional Voices” had been heard from even more often than they were? Read More ›
phishing-on-the-internet-is-represented-by-a-scary-fish-made-with-generative-ai-stockpack-adobe-stock
phishing on the internet is represented by a scary fish made with Generative AI

Identity Theft: You’d Be Amazed At What You Did Last Night Online

All the more so if you didn't do it — that is, if your identity was stolen online
Of course, many people end up learning the most when they do get scammed, hopefully over something that doesn’t cost too much. Read More ›
upset-senior-elderly-man-holding-credit-card-by-laptop-having-trouble-worry-finance-safety-data-or-online-payment-security-bank-client-concerned-about-problem-with-credit-card-financial-fraud-threat-stockpack-adobe-stock
Upset senior elderly man holding credit card by laptop having trouble worry finance safety data or online payment security. Bank client concerned about problem with credit card, financial fraud threat

Interpol Crackdown: Have You Been Scammed on Social Media Too?

Some details of the law enforcement release hint at the intimate reach of international online crime as well as its broad scope
It’s not that you’re naive. Rather, it is much easier than it used to be to fake up all kinds of things using social media — much easier than hacking computers. Read More ›
horizontal-surreal-magazine-collage-of-young-female-look-at-giant-hand-hold-phone-addicted-social-media-news-fakes-on-creative-background-stockpack-adobe-stock
Horizontal surreal magazine collage of young female look at giant hand hold phone addicted social media news fakes on creative background

Zuck and Co Are Under Fire (Again)

Meta targeted teens, according to internal company emails

Is there any company out there who has hurt young people more than Mark Zuckerberg’s gargantuan Meta empire? A host of lawsuits and a damning report from the New York Times tells us that the massive parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp willingly pursued its addictive business model despite the evident damage its products were doing to users, particularly kids. Who remembers when Facebook launched and its promises of a more connected world? Who remembers the optimists hailing the internet as the next step in human connectivity? A mere twenty years later and the technology lords are facing an overdue reckoning. Natasha Singer writes, The state lawsuits against Meta reflect mounting concerns that teenagers and children on social media Read More ›

young-beautiful-caucasian-purple-grey-hair-woman-outdoor-in-the-city-on-the-subway-using-smart-phone-hand-hold-technology-social-network-communication-concept-stockpack-adobe-stock
Young beautiful caucasian purple grey hair woman outdoor in the city on the subway using smart phone hand hold - technology, social network, communication concept

Ozempic: Weight Loss Drug or Supermodel Shortcut?

Social media fuels impossible body standards. So, Gen Z flocks to weight loss drugs.

Ozempic, the weight loss medication that diminishes one’s sense of hunger, has been used as a simple and yet effective treatment for obesity. There is debate on whether the use of drugs to combat weight gain is healthy, or should be pushed back against by simply eating better and engaging in regular exercise. Now, though, a certain brand of Ozempic users is complicating the discussion. People, particularly the young, are starting to use Ozempic to carve out the ideal beach bod. But the risks to this aren’t benign, according to a report by the New York Post. Using Ozempic or other weight loss drugs without a proper prescription can be dangerous. Per the Post: “Drugs including Ozempic and Wegovy should Read More ›

man-working-on-laptop-at-night-stockpack-adobe-stock
Man working on laptop at night

X Now Allows Adult Content According to Policy Update

Formerly, the platform didn't have an actual rule. That's now changed.
The pushback against the decision continues as users are concerned that the site will come to resemble little more than a traditional pornography website. Read More ›
cell-phone-addiction-concept-many-teens-hold-smart-device-social-media-like-obsession-online-communication-problem-people-watch-mobile-gadget-screen-art-illustration-cyberspace-internet-network-stockpack-adobe-stock
Cell phone addiction concept. Many teens hold smart device. Social media like obsession. Online communication problem. People watch mobile gadget screen. Art illustration. Cyberspace internet network.

Haidt on AI: Social Media Companies Use It to Hook the Vulnerable

The famous American social psychologist and professor at New York University, Jonathan Haidt, thinks phones have essentially ruined a generation
His new book The Anxious Generation dives into the data that shows it. Adolescent mental health took a nosedive in the early 2010s: Smartphone world. Read More ›
hand-holding-smart-phone-on-colorful-background-stockpack-adobe-stock
hand holding smart phone on colorful background

“Dopamine-Maximizing AI”

Elon Musk on addictive algorithms and the future of AI
Tech lords often vacillate between hype and doom, and Musk, who signed a petition to curb AI research until its effects are known, falls into that tendency, too. Read More ›
group-of-multiracial-young-people-using-smart-mobile-phone-device-outdoors-happy-university-students-watching-cellphones-sitting-in-college-campus-teenagers-addicted-to-social-media-te-generative-ai-stockpack-adobe-stock
Group of multiracial young people using smart mobile phone device outdoors Happy university students watching cellphones sitting in college campus Teenagers addicted to social media te : Generative AI

A World-Famous Pediatrician on How To Help Kids Learn Better

Start, Ben Carson says, by eliminating the distractions created by constant input from media. Today, that must include the smartphone

Ben Carson is a world-famous pediatric neurosurgeon and professor of medicine emeritus at Johns Hopkins. He … performed the first successful separation of conjoined twins who were attached at the back of the head (occipital craniopagus twins). The operation, which took place in 1987, lasted some 22 hours and involved a 70-member surgical team. Carson also refined a technique known as hemispherectomy, in which one-half of the brain is removed to prevent seizures in persons with severe epilepsy. – Britannica Carson started out comparatively disadvantaged but his mother made sure he got a good education: He later became active in politics, serving as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (1917–21). But he also retained a longstanding concern for education, especially Read More ›

golden-piano-keys-stockpack-adobe-stock
Golden Piano Keys

Is the New Synthesia Piano Program a Crutch—or a Skateboard?

The Synthesia program is a piano roll in digital form.  But instead of a player piano, there is a human piano player, playing the part of the player piano's trackerbar. 
So are the piano teachers of the world doomed by the advent of Synthesia and its spawn of YouTube videos? It doesn't look that way. Read More ›
the-word-ban-on-wooden-cubes-with-internet-www-icon-background-internet-ban-and-censorship-concept-stockpack-adobe-stock
The word ban on wooden cubes with internet www icon background. Internet ban and censorship concept.

Musk vs Australia: Down Under Is Down One For Now

A federal court has refused to extend the demand that Musk’s X platform remove videos showing the stabbing attack on Rev. Mar Mari Emmanuel
The story highlights once again, the way X (Twitter) is one of the few important social media to resist government censorship. Read More ›
cell-phone-use-prohibited-sign-in-school-zone-in-new-orleans-la-usa-stockpack-adobe-stock

Norway Limits Phone Use in School. Did That Truly Help Students?

A Norwegian study says yes but some psychologists dismiss both the study and the limits for conflicting reasons
It’s hard to understand why anyone would doubt that irrelevant messaging from cell phones is a distraction for a student who is trying to learn a concept. Read More ›
the-little-kid-is-sitting-alone-on-the-sofa-and-looking-in-his-phone-stockpack-adobe-stock
The little kid is sitting alone on the sofa and looking in his phone

Moving Life Online is Making Us Depressed

The phone-based childhood robs kids developmentally, says Jonathan Haidt
The data seems to point essentially to one thing: the shift to living our lives online. Read More ›
smartphone-coiled-metal-wire-in-the-hands-of-a-man-gray-green-background-censorship-of-social-networks-cancel-cultural-ban-erase-stockpack-adobe-stock
smartphone coiled metal wire in the hands of a man, gray-green background, censorship of social networks. cancel cultural ban, erase

Yes, TikTok is Bad. But is a Ban the Answer?

This might be the way censorship sneakily invades.
It might make more sense to have conversations about age limits with TikTok. Like nicotine, should it be reserved for those above the age of 18? Read More ›
stop-violence-and-abused-childrentraumatized-children-concept-stockpack-adobe-stock
Stop violence and abused children.traumatized children concept.

How One Woman’s Campaign Nearly Destroyed Pornhub

In 2020 it was the 10th most visited website on the internet, now just a shell of its former days
Mickelwait explained that shutting Pornhub down rather than merely forcing it to enact reforms is necessary because of how much damage has been wrought. Read More ›
censorship-on-freedom-of-speech-restriction-of-public-opinion-right-to-protest-and-activism-undemocratic-practices-and-governments-stockpack-adobe-stock
Censorship on freedom of speech. Restriction of public opinion, right to protest and activism. Undemocratic practices and governments.

How Censorship Has Changed and Why That Matters So Much

The way censorship works now, you don’t even know about it. So it is much more difficult to protest.
Today’s censorship depends in part on the fact that failing mainstream media don’t want to know. Stories are increasingly broken by independent writers. Read More ›
twitter check marks
Blue check mark logos on a heap on a table. Copy space. Verification concept

Philosopher Tweets on Consciousness — and Gets Feedback

Tulane U’s Kevin Morris tweeted that “the brain/ nervous system IS consciousness,” and started a broad discussion with many views represented
Social media can be a tool for free discussions with people worldwide who may not go to the conferences, sign up for the courses, or read the books we do. Read More ›