• RaoulDook@lemmy.world
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      2 years ago

      Yeah none of those kids should have cell phones. They should be about old enough to drive before they get one even.

      • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
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        2 years ago

        Yup. I have kids (three under 10), and the only time my kids use my phone is when I’m literally there with them, letting them pick a video (usually Pat and Mat, Bert and Ernie, or similar). It’s not every day, and never more than 30 min, usually like 15-20 min, and we take turns picking.

        I’m not letting my kids have their own phone until I trust them with one, and that doesn’t seem to be happening anytime soon with how many of our other rules they break.

      • spez_@lemmy.world
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        2 years ago

        Our schools have banned phones. They need to have the right to destroy phones

    • Buttons@programming.dev
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      2 years ago

      Yeah, parents are getting ruined by social media algorithms too.

      Our government seems to be moving towards an “we only care about the children, but everyone, including adults, upload your government papers” approach.

      Y’all got any of those protections for adults? I remember reading regulations that companies couldn’t show children advertisements. Can I have some of that regulation too?

      I just can’t stop being cynical that there is little focus on homeless or underpaid adults, or other adult issues, but the one problem we’re focused on just so happens to include everyone giving up anonymity on the Internet.

      We do need to help kids with social media, but there’s a lot of other challenges they will soon face as adults that we’re ignoring.

      • slumberlust@lemmy.world
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        2 years ago

        Are there any examples of ‘for the kids’ legislation that isn’t just something like backdoor encryption masquerading as protecting the young?

      • ArxCyberwolf@lemmy.ca
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        2 years ago

        Children can’t do that if you’re a responsible parent that keeps an eye on what their child is doing. Y’know, the bare minimum of parenting.

        • TranscendentalEmpire@lemm.ee
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          2 years ago

          if you’re a responsible parent that keeps an eye on what their child is doing.

          Unfortunately you can’t run a society based on how people should behave. That’s the entire reason we have a legal system and the means to implement safeguards for our population.

        • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
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          2 years ago

          That’s sort of true, but “rules for thee and not for me” just kicks the can down the road. They’re going to copy you, so it’s really important to set a good example, at least when your kids can see you.

          • andros_rex@lemmy.world
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            2 years ago

            It’s not “rules for thee and not for me,” unless you consider that true for things like drinking alcohol. It’s protecting children from something they are not cognitively developed enough to be dealing with.

            • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
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              2 years ago

              The difference is that it’s easy to point to reasons why a child shouldn’t be drinking alcohol (illegal, liver immaturity, etc), and less easy to point to why they shouldn’t be on social media, esp. if their friends are using it.

              Where the line is more fuzzy, I think parents should set a more strict standard for themselves, at least in front of their children.

              • andros_rex@lemmy.world
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                2 years ago

                I think the line is, TikTok pulls a video at random it thinks you’ll want to watch. This means that you may be exposed to basically anything a person felt like filming. This includes violent or pornographic content, which children should not be exposed to.

                Being a parent is telling your children no sometimes. Being a parent means that you should vet the media that your child is being exposed to, which is impossible on a platform like TikTok, and sometimes make the decision for them that they are not old enough to be exposed to certain material.

                It really feels like folks don’t want to be parents - they want to hand the iPad over to the screaming toddler so that they can be babysat by their own phone. I don’t understand why one would have children, if they weren’t interested in doing the work of parenting those kids.

                • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
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                  2 years ago

                  My thoughts exactly.

                  I will say, however, that I’m generally against content filtering. My kids know the rules, and they know if they violate them, they lose device privileges. Simple as that. If I put parental controls on, they’ll just circumvent them (and I’ll teach them how to if they ask). I know because I was a kid and constantly got around stupid content filters at school.

                  Either I trust them with the device, or I don’t, no half-measures. For example:

                  • TV - “kids” profiles, but they’re free to use our “adult” profiles if the filtering sucks
                  • computers and tablets - they ask for access, tell me what they want to do, and I unlock it for them
                  • Switch - child lock, but only because my 4yo keeps taking it when not allowed; my older kids know the code

                  That’s it. I generally allow them to use devices unsupervised, though in a public area so I can walk over and check on them. I intend to give them their own devices as they get older (i.e. they’ll set their own passwords). But if they violate my trust, it’s their fault, not the content filter’s, and they lose privileges.

    • tamal3@lemmy.world
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      2 years ago

      Yes, but it’s also new territory for us as a species. I’m sure the guidance and monitors will be significantly improved in the next decade, but a decade ago… It was the wild west, baby.

  • Hal-5700X@sh.itjust.worksBanned
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    2 years ago

    The next generation is so fucked. Wait…they be the ones who take care of me in the old person home. I’m fucked as will.

      • LaLuzDelSol@lemmy.world
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        2 years ago

        No I get that, but this is different honestly. Look up rates of teenage depression/anxiety/suicide attempts, it’s a stunning correlation with the advent of smartphones and social media. Millenials got out just in time.

        • tigeruppercut@lemmy.zip
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          2 years ago

          I agree there are still a lot of problems with social media, not the least of which is I’m not sure if yt or fb ever adjusted their algos to not immediately start pushing alt right and neo nazi content. But don’t forget that the suicide rates are also correlated with a bunch of other bad shit, like growing income inequality and healthcare spending, loss of 3rd places, rent hikes, etc.

        • Boomer Humor Doomergod@lemmy.world
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          2 years ago

          I think it has a lot more to do with social media than smart phones. I remember kids being bullied through tombstone messages on Oregon Trail floppies.

    • Buttons@programming.dev
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      2 years ago

      Karma.

      The young treat the old however they do. But then the young grow old and get treated the same.

    • endhits@lemmy.world
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      2 years ago

      “In my household, the only addictive spyware we use is made in the USA!!!”

      Edit: everyone below me is proving my point exactly.

      • Bonskreeskreeskree@lemmy.world
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        2 years ago

        People love to repeat this, but US companies aren’t coming from a place of hostile intent like china’s special brand of tik tok for the states.

        • endhits@lemmy.world
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          2 years ago

          They’re both focused on profit. The only reason you see the other one as scary is because it’s owned by the scary scary Chinese. Red scare all over again.

          • jaschen@lemm.ee
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            2 years ago

            No tiktok is not focused on profit. It literally has one of the worst/non existent monetization systems.

              • jaschen@lemm.ee
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                2 years ago

                Case in point. Vine literally can’t survive and so shouldn’t TikTok. Unless of course it’s getting propped up by a government with endless funds and not focused on profits.

                • retrieval4558@mander.xyz
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                  2 years ago

                  Why are you so convinced that an advertising platform that a 1/3rd of the country is glued to is unsustainable. And that’s ignoring the rest of the world, which is the majority of their user base.

                • jorp@lemmy.worlddeleted by creator
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                  2 years ago

                  What’s the connection between Uber and China, then? I thought it was somewhat common for tech companies to be unprofitable for very long periods of time backed only by capital, but it may be China. Has anyone looked into this? Does Xi know what I like to order on weekends? Why haven’t we banned this yet

            • AMDIsOurLord@lemmy.mldeleted by creator
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              2 years ago

              Because the USA strong armed them into giving their platform handling to Oracle Corp, a top tier US govt contractor.

              But since pro-palestine cries can’t be silenced on TikTok as easily as Zio media, taking control of the platform is no longer enough

                • AMDIsOurLord@lemmy.mldeleted by creator
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                  2 years ago

                  It’s the same thing, the international one was called TikTok and the US version is handled by Oracle

                  It’s called douyin or something idk in China but it’s the same shit

          • jumjummy@lemmy.world
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            2 years ago

            You say “red scare” as if China isn’t a hostile nation state to the US. Go look at western company penetration in China if you want. Are you calling it “western scare” when China blocks yet another western company? I didn’t think so.

        • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
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          2 years ago

          Hmm, here’s what Zuckerberg said when he launched Facebook:

          According to SAI sources, the following exchange is between a 19-year-old Mark Zuckerberg and a friend shortly after Mark launched The Facebook in his dorm room:

          Zuck: Yeah so if you ever need info about anyone at Harvard

          Zuck: Just ask.

          Zuck: I have over 4,000 emails, pictures, addresses, SNS

          [Redacted Friend’s Name]: What? How’d you manage that one?

          Zuck: People just submitted it.

          Zuck: I don’t know why.

          Zuck: They “trust me”

          Zuck: Dumb fucks.

          Brutal.

          Could Mark have been completely joking? Sure. But the exchange does reveal that Facebook’s aggressive attitude toward privacy may have begun early on.

          They may not be trying to control elections (they certainly have their fingers in that pie too), but they’re still hostile to users.

          • Bonskreeskreeskree@lemmy.world
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            2 years ago

            It’s not the same. China wants to fuck up the American youth. That’s why their version of tiktok is so different from ours. But you already knew that I’m sure

            • just another dev@lemmy.my-box.dev
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              2 years ago

              Nah, I don’t use tiktok, Chinese or otherwise so I wouldn’t know the difference. But you’re missing the point.

              • USA organisations abuse social media to spy on and influence citizens.
              • Chinese organisations abuse social media to spy on and influence citizens.

              And yet, you claim one is inheritly worse than the other or should be preferered. To me, they are equally bad. If anything, the USA manipulation is worse - they can use that knowledge more easily and to greater effect than an attacker on the other side of the world.

              • fuckingkangaroos@lemm.ee
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                2 years ago
                • USA organisations abuse social media to spy on and influence citizens.
                • Chinese organisationsgenocidal dictatorship abuse social media to spy on and influence citizens.
              • Bonskreeskreeskree@lemmy.world
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                2 years ago

                Are the American companies doing it in pursuit of destabilizing the United States population for the betterment of the CCP and its interests?

                Is the Chinese company doing it in pursuit of destabilizing the United States population for the betterment of the CCP and its interests?

      • ealoe@ani.social
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        2 years ago

        Unironically yes, at least the US government is something we can openly criticize and attempt to change while living within its borders. Try criticizing the Chinese government from within China, let me know how that works out for you. I’ll take homegrown American spyware any day.

        • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
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          2 years ago

          I doubt it, parents will just move them to YouTube, Instagram, or some other platform. The TikTok ban is intended to limit misinformation by the CCP, and that doesn’t really matter for this age of kids.

            • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
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              2 years ago

              The more important thing to me is building habits. I care less about how much they’re watching vs how they’re spending their time generally.

              We have a rule where our kids need to read to be able to watch/play games, and we cap at 2hr/day. If they read 1hr, they can watch/play for 30min. My kids seem to have a pretty good mix of reading, watching/playing, and playing outside w/ friends, so I think it works.

              • GladiusB@lemmy.world
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                2 years ago

                Yea. We do something similar. It’s an electronic allowance. If you use it it’s done for the day. I change it for rainy days and vacations if we are traveling in the car or whatever. But it’s easy to set up with Google family. And then you can see what they are doing. Not to be snoopy. Just to teach them the right way to protect themselves online. I don’t want them to turn 18 and be completely lost.

                • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
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                  2 years ago

                  I give my kids 30 min “free” on Saturdays, which gets doubled if they spend it in a game with a sibling. For trips, I make my kids all do the same thing, so either watch the same show, listen to the same audiobook, etc.

                  I personally don’t digitally track what my kids do at all, I instead rely on trust and keeping devices in a public space. I tell them what’s acceptable, and occasionally hang out with them while they’re doing whatever. As they follow the rules, I give them more autonomy (e.g. my oldest may get their own PC soon-ish), but if they break the rules, they lose access. The only parental controls I use is for my 4yo, because she keeps getting into my Steam Deck and Switch w/o asking, but my other kids know the passcode on the Switch (not my Steam Deck, that’s mine).

                  It’s a bit bumpy, but I’m hopeful that having rules but no actual walls teaches them to learn to self-regulate and will help them in the long-run. It worked for me as a kid.

      • jaschen@lemm.ee
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        2 years ago

        Wait, is there another psyops software the CCP has deployed in the US?

        • BlueJayOakerson@lemmy.world
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          2 years ago

          Probably plenty. Tik tok is just the biggest owned by a foreign government that also is showing pretty immediate extreme negative effects on children’s attention spans and learning capabilities.

          But people are still gonna whine because they’re 25 year olds who need to watch 80 videos of unboxing shoes in 4 minutes . That’s really the only pro tik tok argument there is.

          • neo (he/him)@lemmy.comfysnug.space
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            2 years ago

            It sets a pretty chilling precedent that non-American competition can be forced to sell to Americans for (insert arbitrary reason here).

            I am in favor of TikTok at least becoming restricted to adults only if not outright banned, just warning about the consequences of doing it this way.

            • jaschen@lemm.ee
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              2 years ago

              It’s owned by the CCP who is currently trying to undermine our election. It tried to do it in Taiwan where I currently live.

            • BlueJayOakerson@lemmy.world
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              2 years ago

              It really doesn’t set a bad precedent forcing a foreign adversary to have less control over the US population. We should really force the sale of a lot of Chinese properties in the US as well. A foreign government should not have so much control over rental and housing prices in the US.

              Why are you pro foreign adversary controlling the daily lives of Americans? It’s a very odd stance to take and openly say unless you’re not American obviously.

          • ChexMax@lemmy.world
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            2 years ago

            I’m guessing you’ve never been on TikTok. It’s a pretty good news source and information disseminator. Your algorithm feeds you what you pick so if you linger on posts from physical therapists and psychologists about child development, that’s what you learn about. If you linger on political posts highlighting our local and federal government’s corruption, you get that.

            I’m all for banning it (and all social media) for children, but if you think TikTok is all trash TV, you’ve been successfully propagandized.

            • BlueJayOakerson@lemmy.world
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              2 years ago

              Wtf? You see nothing wrong with your first two sentences??? “It’s great at disseminating information. The Chinese government learns how I think then starts to show me propaganda they want that will align with my opinions so they can drive how I think and what I learn in the future”

              That’s fucking wild that you’re saying all of this is a positive thing.

      • jaschen@lemm.ee
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        2 years ago

        It’s not in American businesses best interest overthrow a government. Can’t say the same for the CCP tho. Fuck the CCP.

          • jaschen@lemm.ee
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            2 years ago

            Wow, that is literally 1 example of an obscure time in the early 19th century.

            A mass majority of an American company has zero interest to hurt the community it is based in. The stability of a government and the strength of it’s community determines if people would buy/use a product. It also supplies a competent workforce and a network of security that helps a company prosper.

    • andros_rex@lemmy.world
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      2 years ago

      I use TikTok routinely. I actually spend time on Chinese parts of TikTok, because I know a little Chinese. I’ve seen content that the CCP would be very much opposed to - including discussions of the Tank Man from Tiananmen Square and homosexuality in Chinese history.

      TikTok has censorship certainly, but it’s more targeted towards the Gaza conflict.

      • jaschen@lemm.ee
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        2 years ago

        I use TikTok routinely.

        Your experience is different from other experience. That’s the main issue. They are and can target specific people in specific groups and in specific regions. You seeing this content just means you’re not important enough for them to target.

        • andros_rex@lemmy.world
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          2 years ago

          As can/do Facebook and every other social media platform. But I find it hard to take this idea that TikTok is an arm of the CCP seriously when I routinely discuss Ughyur Muslims and Tiananmen square with folks, and see depictions of Chairman Mao as Pooh Bear.

          The more shady shit is the shop and how every third video is an unlabeled ad. TikTok wants to make money first and foremost. I don’t think TikTok is some force for good in the world, but what they are doing is no different from what Meta and Google are doing.

          • jaschen@lemm.ee
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            2 years ago

            Tiktok has one of the worse/non existent monetization programs. Its clearly not important to them how bad it is.

            My extended family in Taiwan would routinely see fake news on Tiktok during the Taiwan elections.

            That’s the thing. You don’t know. Nobody knows except the CCP. That’s the problem.

            • pop@lemmy.ml
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              2 years ago

              That’s the thing. You don’t know. Nobody knows except the CCP. That’s the problem.

              But you do about every other social media platform?

              Fake news is not exclusive to a single platform. Teach your family about reputable news sources and stop trying to shoehorn US propaganda down everyone’s throats like it makes you look smart. Tiktok learned everything it does by the likes of facebook, Google and Twitter.

              Why do you think US social media is everywhere all over the world with near instant or sometimes even get higher bandwidth preference in some countries? If you don’t think the US government has nothing to do with the level of complexities that entails dealing with local governments/infrastructure and planning, then I guess “ignorance is a bliss”, and I hope the US government will bring you peace and much freedumb. Don’t complain when they come in blasting tho.

              • jaschen@lemm.ee
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                2 years ago

                It’s one thing to have fake news that is uncontrolled. It’s another thing when a literal adversary uses fake news as a tool to create discourse.

                A social media company has one thing in mind. Profits. Even if it means that a byproduct of profits is discourse. But TikTok sole purpose is discourse. They literally don’t care about profits.

  • The Menemen!@lemmy.world
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    2 years ago

    I managed to almost completly keep my children away from it for now (8 and 10). But it is a struggle. And I will soon lose that struggle. So many children at age 8 or 9 have smartphones for fs sake.

    I plan to slowly introduce them to stuff like this, so they will be able to deal with it. I did so rather successfully with the other bullshit, like Roblox. They are only allowed to play it when I am in the room, and I check that they follow that rule (they do).

    Feels like walking on the edge though. Still unsure when to open the TikTok thing. Too early is bad, but too late and they will somehow already he on tiktok and I just don’t know about it.

    • TubularTittyFrog@lemmy.worldBanned
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      2 years ago

      my siblings managed to keep their kids away from smartphones until 4th grade. And even that was a struggle.

      sadly it just falls into the camp of ‘everyone else is doing it’. and if your kid isn’t they will be socially ostracized.

      • tamal3@lemmy.world
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        2 years ago

        Some kids also get obsessive about phones once they get one, or obsessed with other people’s phones until then.

    • tmcgh@lemm.ee
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      2 years ago

      Do you have any tips? My kids are still pretty young (3 and 2) and I really want to avoid them having acess to these sorts of things.

      • vimdiesel@lemmy.world
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        2 years ago

        the main thing for you is to stay off your phone as well. Kids watch their parents closely and humans have an in built need for “fairness”, if they see you addicted to it they will never stop wanting to do the same.

        • tmcgh@lemm.ee
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          2 years ago

          Yea, that makes sense. Whenever I’m home from work, I make sure the phone goes on the counter. Thankfully, I’m not into social media all that much.

          • The Menemen!@lemmy.world
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            2 years ago

            I’d add the “have clear rules” concept to this and enforce the rules. Don’t be wishy washy. But communicate the rules and be prepared to explain the rules.
            But also accept that theory and practice are not the same. Imo you should allow them enough, that they don’t isolated from their friends experiences. That is why I allow them to play Roblox under supervision or why I set up a Minecraft Server so that they can play online with their friend in a safe environment (but only on weekends for a fixed time period).

  • PeriodicallyPedantic@lemmy.ca
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    2 years ago

    What does “on tiktok” mean?

    Unsupervised with their own accounts? I feel like that’s difficult to believe. Watching a few tiktoks before dinner with their parents? That doesn’t really strike me as a problem.

    While I don’t entirely disagree with the author, I feel like this is a far too superficial look at what is a larger societal problem: young people have checked out.

    He makes the argument that mental health is in decline, and I’m not sure if that’s true or we’ve just removed the stigma from therapy… But of more concern to me is that young people just DGAF, and I think that’s because older generations have left nothing for younger generations to inherit, besides ruin. Kids 5-7 aren’t gonna understand that, but they’re gonna pick up the vibes from their parents.

    • sp3ctr4l@lemmy.zip
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      I don’t think its difficult to imagine 30% of 5 to 7s with their own phones on tiktok nearly all the time.

      Raising kids is hard, especially when youre poor and stressed out or tired all the time, its waaay easier to just get them a phone.

      The number of people I’ve met in the last couple of years? Yeah, I live amongst the poors, the abusive parents and single moms and drunk/drug addicted dads… all their kids either have their own phones or the family has one for all the kids, who basically fight over it and get smacked by a parent or older sibling when theyre being too rowdy.

      A few weeks ago I was walking, puffing on a nicotine vape. A school bus pulls up and drops off what could not have been older than 2nd graders, who began hounding me: Lemme hit that wax bro, Share your wax!

      These are those 5 to 7s that are on TikTok, or close to it. I didnt even realize what Wax was at first, literally had to scurry home and lookup that wax is now the term for basically dab pens.

      So yeah, theres huge segments of the population where 7 year olds want a highly concentrated dose of MJ from a literal random person theyve never seen before.

      Devo: It’s a beautiful world we live in… for you, but not for me.

      • PeriodicallyPedantic@lemmy.ca
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        2 years ago

        I mean, that’s kind of my point - in situations like that, it seems like using Tiktok is small potatoes compared to the more significant issues that’d cause problem behavior. The Tiktok consumption is just another symptom, and if it wasn’t tiktok it’d be some other escape mechanism.

        To me, the article seems lazy, complaining about a superficial problem without spending effort to even consider or mention underlying root causes that could give rise to it and must be solved first.

        And to be clear I’m not blaming the parents, they’re not the “root cause” I’m talking about. They’re victims too, in large part. They and their kids are stuck in a harmful cycle, and people with the ability to break that cycle are unwilling to do so.

        • sp3ctr4l@lemmy.zip
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          You explicitly said you couldnt imagine 30% of 5-7 year olds having essentially unfettered access to TikTok, and you said the TikTok problem is a symptom of general mental health decline in youths.

          You did not say your point was that 30% of 5-7s are using TikTok habitually, you expressed incredulity to this, to which I responded.

          Anyway, you want a root cause?

          Poverty, drug addiction, poor parenting.

          Yeah, I am going to blame the parents, at least partially.

          Oh you have kids and you are not able to actually raise them, hand them off to TikTok instead? You shouldn’t have had kids you can’t actually raise.

          Obviously, this would happen a lot less if maybe we redistributed some wealth from the top to the bottom, actually had an economy and society that allowed for all people to live well.

          Sure the article is superficial in the sense it isnt exploring root causes, but it doesnt really purport to try. That would probably end up being a completely different and much more complex piece of writing.

          Further, this is honest-broker, a website for basically well to do yuppies who were born into connections and managed to maintain the socio economic strata they were born into, where they fret about how the poors are poor because theyre stupid, and minutiae about their investments.

          What did you expect?

          • PeriodicallyPedantic@lemmy.ca
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            2 years ago

            Yeah, I know I shouldn’t expect much from a site like that, but since it’s shared here I felt like I should shine a little light on the deeper issues.

            This kind of superficial “journalism” rage-baiting boomers for clicks is really frustrating to me. Shit like this is brain-rot at least as bad as Tiktok is. It has always existed, but the extent to which it has replaced actual analysis and investigation is depressing.

            Yes, the parents are partially at fault, of course. But as you indicated, there are significant societal pressures that force families into dynamics like this and it’s not realistic to expect an overwhelming majority to be able to resist it, alone. And since we’re not about to engage in class-based eugenics, it’s up to society to give them a serviceable ladder to climb out of their situation.

            So, TLDR; I wanted to shine a light on deeper issues, so that people don’t think that this is solely a moral failing of parents, and that they DO understand that we have a collective responsibility to help families.

  • profdc9@lemmy.world
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    2 years ago

    You would think that with all those kids watching, Xi would lean into the whole Winnie the Pooh resemblance.

  • tsonfeir@lemm.eedeleted by creator
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    How do you take over the world? Program the children!

  • biggerbogboy@sh.itjust.works
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    2 years ago

    I turned out perfectly fine without a phone until age 15, and I’m 17 now, I don’t really use social media other than reddit, Lemmy and YouTube on my phone and I barely use it, since I’m more likely to use my iPad at home exclusively.

    I feel as though more parents need to do the same mine did, restrict access to smartphones until ages the kid is more likely to explore the world more, specifically for safety, but still teach them to concentrate on stops while on public transport, on where they walk, etc. and not use their phone on the go apart from when time is able to pass and be stationary.

    I cringe at the fact kids a third or less my age are allowed phones, I shouldn’t even be allowed since my brain is still developing, i cant imagine the levels of braindead these children will be when they get to my age, since people my age are already horrific enough…

    • areyouevenreal@lemm.ee
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      Why would using a phone affect brain development negatively? We aren’t talking about children sniffing Ketamine or drinking a fifth of vodka here.

      • Dagwood222@lemm.eeBanned
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        2 years ago

        Socialization is a slow process. Many people who have good families and rich environments still have problems learning how to have face to face conversations. Look how many people on this site talk about not wanting to have a conversation over the phone or talk to a stranger in a shop.

        • areyouevenreal@lemm.ee
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          What does this have to do with smartphones and the internet? The internet is a means of gathering information first, and a form of communication second. I don’t get what socialization has to do with the first one. If you want people to be comfortable communicating on the internet (or via phone or whatever) then presumably they need to start earlier.

          As for people struggling with phones, that’s because a) lots of people here are autistic, and b) voice phones are not an ideal form of communication anyway. Either way the answer is practice, not shying away from the problem.

          • Dagwood222@lemm.eeBanned
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            2 years ago

            the answer is practice,

            There are only so many hours in the day. If a child spends eight hours a day glued to the phone, they aren’t going to learn social skills.

            • areyouevenreal@lemm.ee
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              Okay first who said eight hours? I am not saying there shouldn’t be limits, just that banning the internet completely is a bad idea. Second communicating with technology is an essential social skill in itself, and being able to use technology and apply critical thinking to things you read is absolutely essential. Lots of people work from home using technology. Almost everyone will have to use technology to do research e.g. in college.

              • Dagwood222@lemm.eeBanned
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                Socialization is a slow process. Many people who have good families and rich environments still have problems learning how to have face to face conversations. Look how many people on this site talk about not wanting to have a conversation over the phone or talk to a stranger in a shop.

                That’s my original comment. Never said anything about banning the internet.

                • areyouevenreal@lemm.ee
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                  2 years ago

                  Yes in a thread about banning kids from having smartphones, which are the main way people access the internetwork nowadays.

      • biggerbogboy@sh.itjust.works
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        well since social media can affect attention spans negatively, as I’ve observed with myself recently, I don’t think the effects of such would translate positively into social or educational circumstances, arguably the most needed situations in a child’s life at that time, even if they are almost an adult.

        sure, alcohol and drugs do still affect a child quite intensely, though I’m saying that, is social media and the endless dopamine harvesting NOT a drug? if you think about it, it extracts, makes a person want to come back for more, causing addiction, further extracting more, losing its effectiveness and making it almost impossible to quit from there.

        people may say it isn’t addictive, but its just that it isn’t as noticeable since it is a society-wide phenomena which is seen as positive.

        • areyouevenreal@lemm.ee
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          sure, alcohol and drugs do still affect a child quite intensely, though I’m saying that, is social media and the endless dopamine harvesting NOT a drug? if you think about it, it extracts, makes a person want to come back for more, causing addiction, further extracting more, losing its effectiveness and making it almost impossible to quit from there.

          I don’t think you understand what drugs are or can do. They don’t all just blindly increase dopamine. They have many other effects on the mind and body that social media does not. This whole concept of dopamine detoxes and addiction = dopamine needs to die too. It’s not based on solid scientific understanding as addiction is far more complex than this and comes in multiple, separate forms. Even drugs like amphetamines that primarily interact with the dopamine system don’t always lead to addiction (ask anyone with experience of ADHD meds). Thinking dopamine is only about addiction and vice versa is like thinking electricity is only for heating and that all heating must be done using electricty.

          Raising children without access to the internet is both backwards for their education and actively dangerous. The internet has allowed minors in bad situations to escape or get help multiple times. It’s also made people realise their parents or guardians are insane or abusive including those who are members of dangerous religions and cults, are homophobic, or are abusive for other reasons. School in some countries is also packed full of propaganda, and even when it isn’t they can’t always help and are sometimes a source of abuse themselves. Restricting access to information isn’t a good thing.

          • biggerbogboy@sh.itjust.works
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            no, I’m not confused at all, I am meaning that the smartphone is the most accessible way to utilise social media, meaning due to its formfactor, it is the most convenient way to access it.

            are you more likely to use a desktop PC using android x86 (just an example) or use a smartphone? its almost like using a smartwatch to use Photoshop, its not the same as using a desktop, you know what I mean?

            • areyouevenreal@lemm.ee
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              You don’t need to run Android x86 to access a social media site on a computer. What are you talking about?

                • ASeriesOfPoorChoices@lemmy.worldBanned from community
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                  except they don’t have the same software. Phones use ARM, not x86.

                  (amusingly, if you had just said “Android”, you would have seemed less insane. still insane, since you could have just said ‘linux’, but less. But even saying that would still make you insane, since the operating system isn’t the social media, and isn’t what you were talking about.)

            • ASeriesOfPoorChoices@lemmy.worldBanned from community
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              You are not a clever man.

              If you were in any way correct, we should be banning cars and trucks from the USA, because they’re the most accessible way drugs are transported. To stop drugs, we should ban cars. Cars are making it far too easy to get that nose candy.

              Yeah, no. Hardware has nothing to do with this.

              (I’m not even going to start with how insane your mentioning android x86 is; like somehow that esoteric version of an OS has something to do with social media. I’m guessing you think everything uses apps, and social media doesn’t run through web pages?)

    • 257m@sh.itjust.works
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      I was given a phone quite young but completely discarded it after I bought myself a thinkpad. No need for it when I can be comfortable on my Arch setup. I think the amount of brain damage could be severely reduced if they only had access to a family PC or something. Most kids probably wouldn’t even touch the PC until way later.

    • afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world
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      2 years ago

      …which starts with P which rhymes with T which stands for trouble.

      Mothers of River City is your son starting to buckle his knickerbockers below the knee?