Journal 3 – John Baker

Summarize at least 4 class resources, whether video or article, in a short paragraph. Cite references for each paragraph at the end of the paragraph in parentheses, using URLs where possible. (4 paragraphs)

Resource 1: Digital ethics and the future of humans in a connected world |

This Gerd Leonhard TED talk video focuses on the ethical future of humanity.  The videos intro primarily talks about how people view machine intelligence. For most of the rest of the video, he focuses on how we must approach the future with an ethical view in mind. He discusses how companies like Facebook, take a responsibility after we give them our personal data. Thats why a lot of people are worried when companies like Facebook mishandle our data. Towards the end, he discusses trans humanism, and leading the future into humans becoming linked with machines. Already, people have advanced prosthetics and artificial body parts.

Resource 2: Is The Internet Changing The Way We Think?

This article talks of, dual-screeners, or the way we constantly use multiple screens to multitask. Internet addiction is frequent in our worlds youth, and the constant cycle of dopamine triggers of instagram and other social media likes is bad for developing minds as well. “Is the internet changing how we think? It is certainly changing what parts of the brain we use, has made us a little more distractible, and has become an addictive pleasure.” This quote basically sums up the article, and talks about how the at the moment small risks, could build up to more dangerous mental effects.

https://www.insidescience.org/video/internet-changing-way-we-think

Resource 3: The Center for Humane Technology (CHT)

The center for humane technology is a nonprofit organization that takes it upon themselves to lead a comprehensive shift toward humane technology, by changing the way technologists think about their work and how they build products. Comprised of many employees of tech companies and other social media places, they have seen firsthand that the companies that created social media and mobile tech have benefited our lives enormously. “While we’ve been upgrading our technology
we’ve been downgrading humanity.”

https://humanetech.com/

Resource 4:  Ledger of Harms

The ledger of harms combines well with the previous resource. The ledger of harms is essentially a list of all the negative aspects technology can lead to. “Practical” technologies, such as kitchen appliances and and lightbulbs dont really have any conflict with the ledger of harms, but new inventions like social media often infringe on them. The ledger consists of Attention, Mental Health, Relationships, Democracy, Children, and Do Unto Others. Each one has its own reasons and evidence of how it is harmful.

https://ledger.humanetech.com/

Then define and write a specific question you have or issue you want to research about the link between social media and mental health of young adults. Explain why this question or issue interests you. (a few sentences to a paragraph)

Does excessive social media use lead to increased abundance of anxiety and depression in teenagers and young adults.

We have theorized and seen that social media has adverse effects, but I have never looked for myself to see any studies that prove that.

Then find a list of 6-7 articles that respond to the issue–This might be a result of a few Google Searches with different terms of questions. You can also add 2 from the Resources in Week 3 Schedule). Pick the best 6-7 articles/videos and list them as a “working bibliography” on this topic.  Cite references for each paragraph at the end of the paragraph in parentheses, using titles, authors, and URLs. (a list)

VanHemert, Kyle. “A Social Network Designed to Combat Depression.” Wired, Conde Nast, 6 June 2017, www.wired.com/2015/04/social-network-designed-combat-depression/.

Miller, Caroline, and Child Mind Institute. “Does Social Media Cause Depression?” Child Mind Institute, childmind.org/article/is-social-media-use-causing-depression/.

Mammoser, Gigen. “Social Media Increases Depression and Loneliness.” Healthline, Healthline Media, 14 Dec. 2018, www.healthline.com/health-news/social-media-use-increases-depression-and-loneliness.

Fader, Sarah. “Social Media Obsession and Anxiety.” Anxiety and Depression Association of America, ADAA, adaa.org/social-media-obsession.

Hoge, Elizabeth, et al. “Digital Media, Anxiety, and Depression in Children.” Pediatrics, American Academy of Pediatrics, 1 Nov. 2017, pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/140/Supplement_2/S76.

Basu, Tanya. “Teens Are Anxious and Depressed after Three Hours a Day on Social Media.” MIT Technology Review, MIT Technology Review, 11 Sept. 2019, www.technologyreview.com/f/614297/teens-are-anxious-and-depressed-after-three-hours-a-day-on-social-media/.

Skim these articles and based on your skimming, pick the two most informative–those that expand your knowledge the most, not necessary those that you already agree with. Summarize each of these articles as you did above, each in a short paragraph. (2 paragraphs)

Article 1:

Teens are anxious and depressed after three hours a day on social media

This article found that nearly 6,600 12- to 15-year-old Americans self-reported the amount of time they spent on social media per day, and if they had any mental health problems. The study found that 3 hours of social media correlated with higher rates of mental health issues. Many researchers found that social media is changing faster than we can keep up with. Apps like TikTok have taken off like wildfire compared to Facebook, which few teens still use. Every day, there are new words added to the lexicon of young adults online, which trying to explain to older adults could take hours to break down. The solution to having teens locked into social media? Moderation can solve some of the issues, but that is easier said then done. Some kids are almost physically unable to put down their phones, as they feel it is a tether to their social life.

Article 2:

Does Social Media Cause Depression?

This article found that a 2017 study of over half a million high schoolers found that the number of them showing high levels of depressive symptoms increased by 33% between 2010 and 2015. In the same period, the suicide rate for girls in that age group increased by 65 percent. Visits to college counseling centers for depression and anxiety related factors jumped 30 percent 2010 to 2015. One of the leading factors in social media isolation is that young adults spend less time communicating in person and much more electronically. Maslows hierarchy of needs shows us that human interaction is important for a mental health. The article also speaks of the fear of missing out, or FOMO, which is also a very unique factor in our modern society. I dont think this is unique to younger generations, although it is more prevalent in them. FOMO is primarily a result of young adults seeing others having fun through the lens of social media. In the 90s, all of your close friends could go to a party together, and unless you heard about it in person, you would never know. However, today, you would see snapchat videos and instagram posts reminding you of the fun time you missed out on. This can lead to kids entering a downward spiral of self-doubt and negative reflection. The solution to all of these issues? Focus on balance, turn off notifications, and teach mindful social media use.

Now conclude by explaining how your knowledge of this topic has developed over this research experience. If you did your research correctly, there should be some change in your thinking–that’s what “re-search” means. So explain how your thinking changed–either by deepening, changing or making more complex your understanding of the issue. (1-2 paragraphs)

These articles showed me that social media does indeed have a role in anxiety and depression. However, it is more of a correlation and not a causation. Social media is not the only reason for higher rates of poor mental health, but it for sure has a role of  contributing in them. I learned examples of some of the specific issues, such as FOMO and also learned ways to combat these adverse effects, such as turning off notifications.

Given your new understanding, suggest how you might adapt or redesign a social media platform you currently use, or create a new one, so that other youth are likely to have a healthier experience. You may need to go beyond your own experience of “it’s just fine for me” to “if other teens are depressed, maybe this could help them”. Remember that having gown up within social media, it may be hard to even assess its influence on you, or to imagine there might be an even better experience than the one you are used to. (1-2 paragraphs)

If i had to design a new social media platform, I would make a couple important decisions. First, remove any sort of “reward” such as likes. Likes were used to show that you enjoyed a photo, status, or post, but quickly turned into some sort of arbitrary value as to how “good” something was. Removing followers, or at least hiding the number, could have beneficial effects as well. I know personally, girls who value a models importance or influence on her follower count, not her talent. This is not their fault at all, and I sometimes myself find that I will put faith into believing someone who has a larger following is somehow better than someone with a smaller one.

I think Sharing, retweeting, and reposting are good ways to spread content you enjoy. I don’t see anything wrong with them and think they are necessary to social media, for people to discover new content they have never seen.

Commenting and replying is a tough issue, as many replies can be rude, demeaning, or downright horrifying. Cyberbullying often comes in the form of comments or replies. Twitter has a system in replies that checks for any slurs, rude words, or accounts with a history of those, and hides those comments behind a button that warns you that they have been flagged. Having a vetting process like this makes it a little easier for people to get (mostly) positive interactions.

It is tough to nail down exactly what a good social media site could be, as toxic people will always find ways to ruin everyone else’s fun if possible, and policing a social media site to heavily is a quick way to stop everyone from having fun on it with harmless jokes. I believe in the next decade we will take steps towards new ventures in social media that focuses more on the interaction humans desire and less on the attention we crave.