John3182Apr 14, 2023
Jeff Jarvis
Oh, FFS. Orgasms cause dopamine. So do apples, bananas, oranges, and watermelon. Ban them all! Then can we ban the adrenaline raised by Jonathan Haidt's #MoralPanics?
Fareed Zakaria: TikTok is dangerously addictive. We should regulate it now. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/04/14/tiktok-teens-mental-health-regulation/
TikTok is dangerously addictive. We should regulate it now.

The popular app is tied to declines in teenagers' mental health.

The Washington Post
Apr 14, 2023 at 7:04pmWeb
Show threadAlexey MerzApr 14, 2023
@jeffjarvis Dungeons and Dragons causes demonic possession, am I right?
Show threadMatt TerenzioApr 14, 2023
@jeffjarvis I've never had an apple that good
Show threadJeff JarvisApr 14, 2023
@librenews
UnAmerican!
Show threadMark W. Gabby-Li 🐌Apr 14, 2023

@jeffjarvis
The addictive nature of social media is a great argument to regulate it, but why are we only doing this now with TikTok?

(FYI I think TikTok is a national security issue, but this is still pretty selective criticism.)

Show threadJeff JarvisApr 14, 2023
@Aradayn
No, it's not. Novels have been accused of addicting readers. All media have been accused of addiction--indeed, that is where the attention-based business model came from. But you don't see media foreswearing clickbait headlines, subscriptions, and cliffhangers. I find cheese doodles addictive. I will take care of that myself, thank you very much. No need to nanny us all.
Show threadJeff JarvisApr 14, 2023
@Aradayn
Oh, for God's sake, now I see you are a game designer. Who has been accused of addiction for decades? Game designers. Glass house, mate.
Show threadMark W. Gabby-Li 🐌Apr 14, 2023

@jeffjarvis
Mastodon is a great example of social media that doesn't employ a team of behavioral psychologists to increase "engagement."

The main tool of addiction on these websites (and games with loot boxes etc, good point) is variable reward schedules, which produce the same type of compulsive behavior that you see in gamblers.

Show threadKevinApr 14, 2023
@jeffjarvis More research needs to be done here. There's no doubt that addictive social media is changing our brains and impacting our mental health. To what degree though is hard to say. And right now there is just a correlation with negative mental health outcomes.
Show threadJeff JarvisApr 14, 2023
@thestrangelet
"No doubt"? I have plenty of doubt. "Chaging our brains" is utter bullshit. And have you heard that correlation is not causation?
Show threadKevinApr 14, 2023
@jeffjarvis If youd like to look at research on how social media changes our brains: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=how+social+media+changes+our+brains&t=canonical&ia=web and of course correlation is not causation, that why I said more research is needed.
how social media changes our brains at DuckDuckGo

DuckDuckGo. Privacy, Simplified.

Show threadJeff JarvisApr 14, 2023
@thestrangelet
Amy Orben: "the association of well-being with regularly eating potatoes was nearly as negative as the assocation with technology use and wearing glasses was more negatively assocated with well-being."
There's lots of research. I'm writing a book chapter about it now.
So I'm too busy to continue this.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-018-0506-1
The association between adolescent well-being and digital technology use - Nature Human Behaviour

Adolescents regularly use digital technology, but its impact on their psychological well-being is unclear. Here, the authors examine three large datasets and find only a small negative association: digital technology use explains at most 0.4% of well-being.

Nature
Show threadKevinApr 14, 2023
@jeffjarvis Hey, no worries. I guess we're both fucked when it comes to wearing glasses. I'm legitimately interested in this topic and would love to read your book when it's available. If you do find some time to discuss further, I'm down.
Show threadFardels BearApr 14, 2023

@jeffjarvis

I've no doubt that stealing people's human rights and heaping misery on their heads gives #GOP politicians a huge dopamine rush. In this case it should definitely be regulated.

Show threadSeanApr 14, 2023
@jeffjarvis it's not that natural sources of dopamine should be banned, but the products and services that were man made to be addictive should be regulated. Regulate Tiktok... and Facebook, and Twitter, and Instagram, and any other service that employs neurologists to make their algorithm as addictive, ahem, I mean "maximize engagement" as much as possible.
Show threadJeff JarvisApr 14, 2023
@Sean After its creation, the modern novel was accused of exactly such addiction. Ban it!
Show threadPatrick $8 Apr 14, 2023
@jeffjarvis Gambling is addictive for the same reason.
Show threadMatunosApr 14, 2023
@jeffjarvis yeah i mean we should regulate all social media— at least in terms of nationwide data privacy laws and standards— but not because of dopamine responses
Show threadHasanApr 14, 2023
@jeffjarvis be less grumpy Mr Jeff . This is like saying a bad thing makes people think bad is ok is like saying we should enable mental illness in people because they are mentally ill anyway . It’s a disingenuous argument from your perspective , you can’t dispute scientific studies if they don’t agree with a personal opinion
Show threadJeff JarvisApr 14, 2023
@hasanahmsd
https://mastodon.social/@jeffjarvis/110198794419227125
And plenty more where that came from.
Show threadJohn3182Apr 14, 2023
@jeffjarvis I would say they’d like to ban orgasms, but something tells me their wives wouldn’t notice a difference…