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    Decline in teen drug use continues, surprising experts

    (arstechnica.com)
    349 points pseudolus | 16 comments | 17 Dec 24 23:44 UTC | HN request time: 1.466s | source | bottom
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    vouaobrasil ◴[20 Dec 24 19:19 UTC] No.42474017[source]▶
    I wonder if the new drug of choice is actually technology. In some ways I think that the addiction to technology has some similar mellowing effects as drugs. Some research indicates that smartphone addiction is also related to low self-esteem and avoidant attachment [1] and that smartphones can become an object of attachment [2]. The replacement of drugs by technology is not surprising as it significantly strengthens technological development especially as it is already well past the point of diminishing returns for improving every day life.

    1. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S07475...

    2. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S07475...

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    1. jart ◴[20 Dec 24 19:59 UTC] No.42474428[source]▶
    If everyone is switching from drugs to social media, then that's progress. Twitter and Facebook won't harm your body. They're also free, so your habit will never make you poor and desperate. This kind of revolution in improving our health makes me proud to work in the tech industry. The worst that can happen is you'll feel sad if people bully you online, but that's the fault of people, not the technology. We can improve the human condition, but we can't change human nature.
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    2. hgh ◴[20 Dec 24 20:07 UTC] No.42474511[source]▶
    Perhaps? But a confounder is the strengthening or weakening of social ties. It's not clear that what seems to increasing loneliness is doing well by this next generation.
    3. kube-system ◴[20 Dec 24 20:10 UTC] No.42474525[source]▶
    Mental health is health, and poor mental health can result in death... death rates that we have seen climb precipitously among children. Trading heroin deaths for suicides isn't an improvement, even if the dealers feel they aren't directly responsible.
    4. dagss ◴[20 Dec 24 20:19 UTC] No.42474622[source]▶
    Plenty of bad side effects: Harming your brains development, ability to concentrate, harm the ability to find joy in non-screen activities, mental health and so on.
    5. pseudocomposer ◴[20 Dec 24 20:20 UTC] No.42474632[source]▶
    I’d argue that targeted advertising and unprecedentedly-centralized corporate control of what text, images, and video we see online is just as potentially harmful as (recreational) drug use, if not worse. And online-shopping/adventure-travel/other addictions facilitated by targeted ads and targeted content algorithms can definitely leave people unable to achieve goals in life.

    Creating a new addiction to replace the last generation’s isn’t really something to be proud of. As developers, we should be aiming to create ways to communicate that aren’t addictive and facilitate genuine connection with others that includes their highs, the lows, and financial/socioeconomic transparency.

    6. rurp ◴[20 Dec 24 20:22 UTC] No.42474646[source]▶
    I strongly disagree with this. Social media companies are incredibly valuable specifically because they are effective at getting people to spend their money on things they otherwise wouldn't have.

    Depression, suicide, and other serious mental health disorders are strongly linked with social media use. Is that better than more kids drinking and smoking pot? I don't know, it's complicated. It's certainly not clearly better and might be significantly worse.

    Hand waving away these costs is putting on some seriously rose colored glasses.

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    7. dpndencekultur ◴[20 Dec 24 21:06 UTC] No.42475029[source]▶
    They are also really valuable at building/generating personality models of large swaths of the population, the data can be said knows us better than we know ourselves. Since the memory of our patterns can be mined for discovery or narrative creation. That's why they really exist. Just follow the money.
    8. throaway2501 ◴[21 Dec 24 01:06 UTC] No.42476679[source]▶
    social media can definitely harm your body if you’re constantly overstimulated and sedentary
    9. Clubber ◴[21 Dec 24 02:03 UTC] No.42476934[source]▶
    Drug addicts sell their children (in the worst way) for the next hit. It's not the same.
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    10. anigbrowl ◴[21 Dec 24 02:20 UTC] No.42477021{3}[source]▶
    And likewise child porn trade/child trafficking is a nagging problem on social media platforms. Stereotyping is rarely illuminating.
    11. techfeathers ◴[21 Dec 24 03:11 UTC] No.42477260[source]▶
    As someone who grew up in the 90’s and partied the way they did in the 90’s If there is a switch from drugs to social media I find that incredibly dystopian.
    12. lxgr ◴[21 Dec 24 06:14 UTC] No.42477845[source]▶
    > Twitter and Facebook won't harm your body. They're also free

    Only if you value your time at exactly zero.

    > The worst that can happen is you'll feel sad if people bully you online, but that's the fault of people, not the technology.

    By that logic it’s also your body’s fault to react poorly to drugs, not the drugs’.

    Thinking of it in terms of “fault” is also not very productive. I’d say it’s definitely a (possible) negative consequence of social media usage that might otherwise not have happened, and as such worth studying.

    13. d_tr ◴[21 Dec 24 06:20 UTC] No.42477863[source]▶
    > This kind of revolution in improving our health makes me proud to work in the tech industry.

    I can say with some amount of confidence that the number of people wasting their talent and life in making up bullshit engagement algorithms, who thought about it as a way of getting people away from drugs, has been exactly zero. So, it is definitely not something to be proud of, but maybe something to think of as a funny coincidence, provided that the premise actually holds.

    > The worst that can happen is ...

    That you'll remain or become an idiot, or suffer physically and mentally as a result of being inactive while consuming the garbage your proud tech workers shove down your head.

    14. melagonster ◴[21 Dec 24 06:27 UTC] No.42477877[source]▶
    Hello, depending on data from the CDC, we have:

    >Number of alcohol-induced deaths, excluding accidents and homicides: 51,191 Alcohol-induced deaths, excluding accidents and homicides per 100,000 population: 15.4

    >All suicides Number of deaths: 49,476 Deaths per 100,000 population: 14.8

    Apparently, not all suicides are caused by social media, and accidents may be more important here. I just want to offer some data that can be easily fetched.

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    15. meiraleal ◴[21 Dec 24 08:21 UTC] No.42478217{3}[source]▶
    > It's not the same.

    I would not be so sure of that: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/farmville-playing-mom-admits-sh...

    16. addicted ◴[21 Dec 24 10:56 UTC] No.42478904{3}[source]▶
    The problem with alcohol is that it’s a drug that isn’t just legal and tolerated, it’s a drug that’s celebrated and encouraged.