Video Sample Social Media
Summary
TLDRThis presentation delves into the effects of social media on users' mental health, highlighting the addictive nature of platforms designed to capture attention. It explores the social and health contexts, revealing how heavy usage can lead to anxiety and depression. The video discusses the role of algorithms in creating echo chambers and the commodification of user attention. Despite the benefits of social connection, the script suggests that the costs of social media use, including the impact of algorithms and the rise in mental health issues, currently outweigh the benefits. Solutions proposed include personal actions like uninstalling unnecessary apps and broader measures such as regulation and financial incentives for social media companies to reduce harm.
Takeaways
- 📱 **Screen Time Awareness**: Users should check their screen time to understand how much time they spend on their phones and social media apps.
- 🌐 **Designed for Addiction**: Social media apps are intentionally designed to keep users engaged for as long as possible.
- 🧠 **Mental Health Impact**: Heavy social media use can lead to anxiety, depression, and feelings of inadequacy due to comparison with others.
- 🔗 **Virtual Connections**: Social media provides a means to connect with others, especially when physical meetings are not possible.
- 📈 **Algorithmic Influence**: Algorithms on social media platforms curate content to keep users engaged, often leading to an echo chamber effect.
- 👥 **Facebook's Evolution**: Facebook started as a university connection tool and has grown into a major conglomerate with various platforms under its umbrella.
- 📸 **Instagram's Temptation**: Instagram's features, like the search function and filters, can cause users to lose track of time and create unrealistic beauty standards.
- 📲 **Smartphone Dependency**: The constant urge to check for updates on social media is very strong, with Americans checking their phones an average of 96 times a day.
- 🌟 **The 'Like' Button's Original Intent**: The 'like' button was initially designed to spread positivity, but it has been linked to depression and polarization.
- 💸 **Users as Products**: On social media, users are the product, with their attention being sold to advertisers.
- 🔑 **Solutions for Users**: Personal solutions include uninstalling unnecessary apps, turning off non-essential notifications, and potentially deleting social media apps to regain control over personal data and online presence.
Q & A
What is the main concern regarding social media use as discussed in the script?
-The main concern is the potential for social media use to lead to addiction, anxiety, depression, and polarization due to its habit-forming design and the way algorithms curate content.
How can users check their screen time on their mobile devices?
-Users can check their screen time by going to the settings on their mobile devices, where they can find information on how many hours they have spent using their phones and which apps they have spent most of their time on.
What is the social context of using social media as mentioned in the script?
-In a social context, social media allows people to connect and interact with others, especially when physical meetings are not possible. However, heavy use can lead to anxiety and depression due to comparison with others and fear of missing out.
How does the design of social media applications contribute to addiction?
-Social media applications are designed with features like infinite scroll and algorithms that track user behavior to keep users engaged for longer periods, which can lead to addiction.
What role do algorithms play in the experience of using social media?
-Algorithms on social media platforms curate content based on user behavior, which can lead to a narrowing of perspectives (echo chamber effect) and psychological confirmation bias, potentially reinforcing extreme views.
What is the 'infinite scroll' feature, and how does it contribute to social media addiction?
-The 'infinite scroll' is a feature that automatically loads new content as the user scrolls down, making it easy for users to lose track of time and continue browsing, thus contributing to social media addiction.
What is the correlation between increased social media use and mental health as discussed in the script?
-The script discusses a correlation between increased social media use and a decline in mental health, with studies showing an increase in depression and anxiety, especially during lockdowns due to the pandemic.
How do social media companies monetize their platforms according to the script?
-Social media companies monetize their platforms primarily through advertising, where users' attention and data are the products being sold to advertisers.
What is the difference between active and passive use of social media as it relates to mental health?
-Active use of social media, such as video calls and sharing updates, can have positive outcomes for mental health, while passive use, like endless scrolling and comparing oneself to others, can negatively impact mental health.
What solutions are proposed in the script to address the negative impacts of social media use?
-The script suggests solutions such as regulating social media organizations to focus less on profit and more on user well-being, as well as personal actions like uninstalling unnecessary apps, turning off non-essential notifications, and deleting social media apps to regain control over personal data and online presence.
How does the script describe the original intention behind social media platforms?
-The script indicates that social media started with good intent, focusing on connection and communication, but as platforms began to monetize, the focus shifted towards serving the interests of advertisers rather than users.
Outlines
📱 Social Media Addiction and Its Impact
This paragraph discusses the prevalence of social media addiction, urging users to check their screen time and reflect on their usage. It highlights the social and health contexts of social media use, noting how it can lead to anxiety, depression, and a fear of missing out. The paragraph also touches on the positive aspects of social media, such as enabling connection when physical meetings are not possible. It critiques the design of social media apps, which are intentionally addictive, and references the movie 'The Social Dilemma' and interviews with former tech engineers to illustrate how these platforms are designed to keep users engaged.
🔍 The Role of Algorithms in Social Media Engagement
This paragraph delves into the role of algorithms in shaping user experience on social media platforms. It explains how algorithms are used to curate content, leading to longer engagement times. The 'echo chamber effect' and psychological confirmation bias are discussed as negative outcomes of algorithmic curation. The paragraph also addresses the correlation between increased social media use and declines in mental health, as evidenced by statistics from the UK and the US. However, it also acknowledges that not all social media use is detrimental, and active use can have positive outcomes, especially during lockdowns. The paragraph concludes by suggesting personal solutions to mitigate the negative impacts of social media, such as uninstalling unnecessary apps and turning off non-essential notifications.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Social Media
💡Screen Time
💡Algorithm
💡Mental Health
💡Echo Chamber Effect
💡Infinite Scroll
💡Digital Well-being
💡FOMO (Fear of Missing Out)
💡Data Privacy
💡Regulation
Highlights
People are addicted to social media and apps on their devices, with high screen time usage.
Social media provides a platform for social connection that may not be available otherwise.
Heavy social media use can lead to anxiety and depression due to fear of missing out and comparison with others.
Social media allows for online interaction when physical meetings are not possible.
The design of social media apps aims to keep users engaged, potentially leading to addiction.
Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp are examples of social media platforms designed for connection.
Instagram's search function and algorithm can lead users to lose track of time.
The filter feature on Instagram can create a misconception about real-life appearances.
People are using social media on devices, often smartphones, with a strong desire to check for updates.
The 'like' button was designed to spread positivity, but it has led to issues like depression and polarization.
Social media platforms are 'free' because advertisers pay for them, and our attention is the product being sold.
Algorithms used by social media are not objective and are optimized for commercial interests, often profit.
Algorithms can create an echo chamber effect, leading to confirmation bias and ideological extremism.
Increased social media use correlates with a decline in mental health, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Active use of social media can have positive outcomes, while passive use can negatively impact mental health.
The societal problem of algorithmic curation in social media is a concern for experts.
Solutions to the issues with social media involve regulation and financial incentives to do less harm.
Personal level solutions include uninstalling unnecessary apps and turning off non-essential notifications.
Transcripts
are you addicted to using social media
apps on your phone or device if you have
a mobile phone you can go to settings
and check out your screen time how many
hours have you spent using your phone
today what did you spend most of your
time on social media and which apps took
up most of your time Instagram Twitter
if you find the hours are high you're
not alone many people find Social
connection with others through social
media that they may not otherwise get in
day-to-day life however that's not the
only reason we keep going back time and
time again as the movie The Social
dilemma reveals social media apps are
designed to keep you using them in this
presentation we will examine whether the
benefits of using social media outweigh
the costs for users this presentation
will take a closer look at social media
use in the social context and the health
context in a social context how are
people using social media heavy use can
lead to anxiety due to the fear of
missing out and depression where users
compare themselves to others digital
lives and feel that they're not
measuring up to their peers this has a
strong connection with health and in
particular mental health there are times
when a physical meeting is impossible
yet we can still interact online this is
definitely a positive aspect of social
media use but on the other hand the
design of social media applications to
harness and keep attention can lead to
addiction and
anxiety so first let's look at two
common social media applications first
Facebook in February 2004 Facebook began
as a way for University students to
connect virtually it's grown to become
the parent company of messenger
Instagram and WhatsApp Facebook was
designed for connection it lets you
interact with people online no matter
how far apart you are let's take
Instagram as an example this application
allows photos and videos to be uploaded
to share with friends and followers
however it's easy to lose track of time
when using the search search function
the application uses an algorithm based
on tracking your usage online to
determine Pages it thinks you might like
to view the filter feature for images
can change and improve images so much it
leads to a misconception about how
things truly appear in real
life perhaps the biggest problem is
access people are using social media on
a device usually their smartphone that's
sitting in their pocket and the desire
to check for updates is strong according
to the 199 9 a Syrian sponsored survey
of approximately 2,000 us smartphone
users Americans check their phones 96
times a day so why are users so
hooked when interviewed on the social
dilemma Justin Rosenstein a former
engineer at Facebook and Google said
when we were designing the like button
our entire motivation was to spread
positivity and love in the world the
idea that fast forward to today that
teens would be depressed because they're
not getting enough likes or it could be
leading to political polarization was
nowhere on our
radar are we seeing anxiety depression
and polarization happening online in
2006 Asar Rasin a technology engineer
for Mozilla designed the infinite scroll
one of the features of many apps that is
now seen as highly habit forming
features like this keep us using social
media in the social dilemma he says that
because we don't pay for the products we
use advertisers pay for them that
advertises other customers and where the
thing being
sold in his own analysis of the social
dilemma Dr zuban demania or Zed dog as
he goes by on social media has this to
say and the premise is this that social
media started with good intent when they
began to monetize it it doesn't matter
what the platform is it became all about
the customer and guess who the customer
is it ain't Ain you the customer is the
advertiser on social
media Justin Rosenstein goes on to say
when you think about how some of these
companies work it starts to make sense
there are all these services on the
internet that we think of as free but
they're not free they're paid for by
advertisers and why do advertisers pay
those companies they pay in exchange for
showing their ads to us we are the
product our attention is the product
being sold to advertise
so how do these social media companies
achieve this it's all about algorithms
Kathy O'Neal a data scientist says that
algorithms are opinion embedded in code
and that algorithms are not objective
they're optimized to some definition of
success so you could imagine that if a
commercial Enterprise Builds an
algorithm to their definition of success
it's a commercial interest it's usually
profit you're giving the computer the
goal state
that you want this outcome then the
computer itself is learning how to do it
that's where the term machine learning
comes from so every day it gets slightly
better at picking the right Post in the
right order so you spend longer and
longer in the product and no one really
understands what they're doing to
achieve that
goal another impact of algorithms that
curate your social media diet is the
narrowing of what you see unfortunately
this can lead to the echo chamber effect
or psychological confirmation bias this
plays out as rejecting those who do not
hold the same beliefs as you do at its
extreme it can push people to find
groups online who hold extreme views and
lead to religious or ideological
extremism although not every heavy
social media user will become an
extremist what's the result of increased
social media use for many according to
Simon Chandler and Forbes there is a
correlation between increased social Med
media use and a decline in mental health
in the US and the UK in the United
Kingdom figures published in mid- August
2020 by the office for National
statistics revealed that rates of
depression had almost doubled between
July 2019 and March
20120 19.2% of British adults reported
either moderate or severe depression in
June as opposed to
99.7% before any pandemic related
lockdowns were imposed in the United
States and an August survey from the
Centers for Disease Control reported
similar
numbers alarming spikes and mental
health problems have occurred in the
context of growing use of social media
and other digital platforms thanks to
the Corona virus pandemic Facebook hit a
record 3 billion monthly active users at
the end of April
2020 while Twitter also reported a big
34% jump and daily active users in
quarter 2 of
2020 however this is not the whole story
when looking at academic research papers
that go deeper into the statistics we
come to understand that correlation is
not causation in his article Ethan cross
makes a clear distinction in types of
social media use active use of social
media can lead to positive outcomes for
users during the lockdowns the world
over the only connection to family and
friends and colleagues was through
applications like Zoom Microsoft teams
or Google meet in addition sharing on
social media media was a Lifeline that
had very positive mental health benefits
the danger and the concern for users is
passive use of social media when users
fall down the rabbit hole that infinite
scrolling provides or get hooked up on
how many likes their posts or others
receive this can have a significant
negative effect on their mental
health looking at social media how
algorithms work and the impact of social
media on users it appears that the cost
to users of using using social media
currently outweighs the benefits the
impact of the algorithm narrowing our
experience and what we see when using
social media applications has become a
societal problem and one that worries
experts for example when you go to
Google and type climate change is you
will see different results depending on
where you live at this stage what are
the solutions can this be fixed or
changed the experts interviewed for the
social dilemma believe that there are
solutions addressing the profit focus of
social media
organizations and the solutions involve
regulation and financial incentive to do
less
harm there are also Solutions at a
personal level experts recommend you
uninstall apps you don't need that are
wasting your time turn off all
notifications that aren't helping you to
get things done if you can delete social
media apps entirely and take back
control of your data and your online
footprint
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