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https://www.techdirt.com/2023/05/12/apa-report-says-that-media-politicians-are-simply-wrong-about-kids-social-media-media-then-lies-about-report/>
"What if the media and the politicians threw a moral panic about kids and
social media… and the actual experts didn’t come along? The American
Psychological Association has put out a thoughtful, nuanced study, about kids
and social media, that suggests that the hyperventilating we’ve heard about is
misplaced, and that there are some simple common sense approaches that parents
can and should take to make sure their kids are having a healthy experience
with social media.
But it seems that the media is so bought into the moral panic narrative, that
they’re completely misrepresenting the study, claiming it supports the moral
panic.
The core findings, similar to what we’ve been saying all along, and which is
supported by multiple other studies, is that social media is not inherently bad
for kids. For the vast majority, it’s neutral or positive. There is a small
percentage who seem to have issues with it, and we should focus our attention
on dealing with those cases, rather than pushing for things like outright bans.
From the findings of the APA report:
Using social media is not inherently beneficial or harmful to young people.
Adolescents’ lives online both reflect and impact their offline lives. In
most cases, the effects of social media are dependent on adolescents’ own
personal and psychological characteristics and social
circumstances—intersecting with the specific content, features, or functions
that are afforded within many social media platforms. In other words, the
effects of social media likely depend on what teens can do and see online,
teens’ preexisting strengths or vulnerabilities, and the contexts in which
they grow up.
Adolescents’ experiences online are affected by both 1) how they shape their
own social media experiences (e.g., they choose whom to like and follow);
and 2) both visible and unknown features built into social media platforms.
Not all findings apply equally to all youth. Scientific findings offer one
piece of information that can be used along with knowledge of specific
youths’ strengths, weaknesses, and context to make decisions that are
tailored for each teen, family, and community.
Of course, If you’ve been paying attention lately, we’ve been talking a lot
about the ongoing moral panic regarding kids and social media. We’re hearing
over and over again that social media is dangerous for all kids. Full stop.
We’ve pointed out repeatedly that the data and research on the issues do not
support literally any of the claims that politicians (and the media) are making
about the impact of social media on kids.
But neither the media nor politicians seem to much care about the facts here.
Claiming that social media is bad for kids and “something must be done”
appeases voters who have been sold this line of bullshit. And, of course, if
you scratch the surface a little, it’s not difficult to find the legacy
entertainment industry pulling strings behind the scenes. After all, they’ve
always hated the internet, and they own the major TV news providers as well, so
it’s somehow easy for them to present nonsense as fact and have everyone buy
it."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
