rsmurphy wrote: Fri Dec 13, 2024 8:47 am For myself it comes down to intent. Obviously I'm not a mind reader but bipartisan efforts in curtailing access to information speaks more towards control than promoting good mental health. There are positives to keeping very young minds away from toxic online behavior but that should exist within the realm of parenting instead of politicians promoting the ban hammer.

Yeah that's where I'm at too (thinking of the TikTok bans here as well). What's this really about..

Parents should definitely limit, monitor, and educate around social media use, the same way generations ago parents probably shouldn't have let kids watch 8+ hours of TV a day.

penningtron wrote: Fri Dec 13, 2024 10:19 am Parents should definitely limit, monitor, and educate around social media use, the same way generations ago parents probably shouldn't have let kids watch 8+ hours of TV a day.

Too much heterosexual grooming going on back then! Was Miss Crabtree in the Our Gang shorts a kindly grade school teacher or succubus warping the minds of Chubsy-Ubsy and Jackie?

rsmurphy wrote: Fri Dec 13, 2024 10:28 am

penningtron wrote: Fri Dec 13, 2024 10:19 am Parents should definitely limit, monitor, and educate around social media use, the same way generations ago parents probably shouldn't have let kids watch 8+ hours of TV a day.

Too much heterosexual grooming going on back then! Was Miss Crabtree in the Our Gang shorts a kindly grade school teacher or succubus warping the minds of Chubsy-Ubsy and Jackie?

Our Gang!, Sonny, that predates dem heteronormative cathode ray tubes, an even dem talkies for Pete's sake.

Social media is a fucking cancer...cut it out, ban it all. It is 99% garbage, brain-rot time-suck. It sole purpose is to sell people stuff.

I think a blanket ban of minors from social media is CRAP.

+1 for banning adults first

Our world might be better off if children ran things.

zorg wrote: Fri Dec 13, 2024 10:43 am Our Gang!, Sonny, that predates dem heteronormative cathode ray tubes for Pete's sake.

Fine. Small Wonder, then. A little boy keeping his robot sister hidden in a closet was super weird.

FM IIIIIIIIIIIIII already touched on this, but much like the Tik Tok ban this seems like as much a reaction to young people being exposed to non-mainstream/RW views on Gaza, BLM, trans rights, etc etc etc as it is for how shitty social media can be.

A tough one. As the father of two daughters neither have access to any social media and we’ve explained why. Luckily they get it and so far it’s not a problem.

We’re educated, technically adept people so their phones and laptops are monitored and locked down. But, for example, my older sister isn’t and her kids had total free rein. The gods know what they’ve been exposed to.

Social media is designed to be as addictive as possible. This in itself makes it insane that we don’t regulate more.

So I’m banning it in my home, should it be banned for under 16s… I think there is a harm aspect so maybe. But instead of banning it why not actually regulate it in meaningful ways that could result in criminal charges against tech companies and executives if they don’t put genuine guard rails up.

I’m honestly not a free speech absolutist. So far that seems to be mainly assholes upset they can’t propagate race science on mainstream media. Or just keep using the N word. And fuck that.

I should've been clear from the jump but when creating the poll I was thinking more about politicians legislating instead of parents parenting. Not sure if that makes much of a difference.

I would be terrified to parent in this era. Kudos to y'all doing right by your families.

Outside of message boards and instagram I have no social media, though I did at one time. Life is better without it, and I make the point to the people in my family about how social media is probably just fine as long as you're acutely aware of how it is manipulating you. The problem is that I think it is like a lot of other instant gratification/dopamine producing things....adaptation makes you less self aware so evaluation becomes tricky.

I think the key to understanding it, just like other mildly addictive or disruptive things, is to be very honest about its intent and impact, problems to look for, and be super cautious with people who aren't capable of handling that kind of stuff, like younger people.

Cat's out of the bag though, so this attempt at putting it back in will just be whack a mole. That makes legislation on it crap. I think we should be making more things legal as a rule, not fewer, but making people aware of the risks is a big part of that.

this seems reasonable

The current bill banning minors from social media, specifically Florida's HB 3, includes several key provisions:

Age Restrictions: Children under 14 are prohibited from creating or possessing social media accounts. Children aged 14 and 15 can have accounts but only with parental or guardian approval.

Account Termination: Social media platforms must terminate any accounts they suspect belong to children under 14, with a 90-day appeal period.

Age Verification: Platforms are required to use third-party age verification methods for new accounts.

Parental Consent: Minors aged 14 and 15 need parental or guardian permission to keep their accounts.

Civil Penalties: Social media platforms that violate the bill could face civil penalties of up to $50,000 per violation

of course none of this would be necessary if parents were responsible, but we know that's asking too much. yes i follow my kids on instagram and they know it. they need to learn how to navigate this stuff before they turn 18. social media can be a massive negative or a minor positive. in today's world it's probably the best way to maintain those casual/weak relationships that dropped off during the lockdowns.

it's the chatbot companions that are really dangerous now. some of these stories popping up are heartbreaking/chilling.