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The effect of deactivating Facebook and Instagram on users' emotional state

(www.nber.org)
506 points imakwana | 7 comments | 21 Apr 25 04:24 UTC | HN request time: 0.721s | source | bottom
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8s2ngy ◴[21 Apr 25 05:47 UTC] No.43748792[source]▶
I believe many of the problems in our current social media landscape could be solved by eliminating the "feed" and instead displaying posts, updates, and pictures from friends, family, and those we know in real life. This approach might conflict with the profit models of big tech social media and could go against what most people have become accustomed to. Personally, I would love a smaller social network where I can stay connected with my school friends, college friends, and distant family without having to see irrelevant posts, like some stupid remark from a politician halfway around the world or influencers doing something outrageous just for attention.
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1. designerarvid ◴[21 Apr 25 06:24 UTC] No.43748946[source]▶
Intellectually many want this. But the feed shortcuts our reptile brain and gains more engagement minutes / day. As you say, the algorithmic feed is superior for creators wanting reach, and more importantly, advertisers who want eyeballs on their ads. Due to network effects, it is likely impossible to get friends and family to join a boring and non-profit alternative.

Instead of pausing social media altogether, I recently took some time off from the endless scrolling feeds only. When returning it's so apparent how everything is bait for engagement.

The feed hijacks the human attention process on a visceral level. Either with visual stimulus that's extremely intriguing for evolved apes like us (cutting a cake that looks like a dog), or by activating an emotional response from a tribal species like us (stupid takes on politics, in- and out-group stuff).

The rest of most social media apps is fine and offers much of what you are asking for.

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2. UnreachableCode ◴[21 Apr 25 06:35 UTC] No.43748983[source]▶
> it is likely impossible to get friends and family to join a boring and non-profit alternative.

Isn’t this just WhatsApp now though? The addition of Statuses, Following and now Communities almost confirms this. People are dropping Facebook and IG, but can’t give up WhatsApp (yet).

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3. doubtfuluser ◴[21 Apr 25 06:42 UTC] No.43749019[source]▶
> Intellectually many want this. But the feed shortcuts our reptile brain and gains more engagement minutes / day.

I’m not sure if that’s actually a “shortcut” to the reptile brain and it’s just about “I have to scroll more to get stuff I’m interested in. At least for me it feels like that and it causes me to use these social media things far less.

For me it feels more like intermittent rewards vs full rewards at once. Obviously for the ad-industry the intermittent rewards are more useful, that’s why we can’t have nice things

4. xobs ◴[21 Apr 25 08:46 UTC] No.43749667[source]▶
> endless scrolling feeds only

I've got a personal policy: No websites that have an infinite scroll. That means no new Reddit, mobile Reddit, Facebook, Instagram, or similar. This also means I can't use food delivery services, since those tend to be infinite as well.

If they're paginated that's fine, even if they're infinitely so. Infinite scrolling is just a very good touchstone as to the quality and addictiveness of a site, and I'll avoid anything that has it.

For this reason I get my news through RSS and like using Discord -- both have finite ends (even if there may be a lot of content in bursts.)

5. intended ◴[21 Apr 25 09:00 UTC] No.43749760[source]▶
I’m reminded of how junk food was seen as a dominant and crushing force, and how today we have moved to people willingly embracing healthier lifestyles.

I rue the amount of damage caused, before people and society began resisting and arresting its deleterious effects.

But perhaps this is the same process being followed here. New shiny for the reptile brain, eventually the costs are made clear and people decide they would rather not become statistics and instead find joy in other formats and tools.

Then People make those formats or invent ways of engaging with our tools that includes self care and leads to more happiness. We grow older and we eventually get tired of all the online health fads and become crotchety older humans.

Get off my lawn, in advance.

6. misja111 ◴[21 Apr 25 10:13 UTC] No.43750196[source]▶
No, to my brain, reptile or not, these FB feed suggestions are a constant source of irritation.

I use FB only because I'm member of a couple of groups relevant to my hobby, and the stuff posted in those is worth following. Unfortunately there is currently no alternative for those, otherwise I would happily ditch FB.

I don't even care about posts from family and friends anymore because nowadays those are mostly about bragging about their fancy dinner/holiday/social life etc.

7. Thorrez ◴[22 Apr 25 03:51 UTC] No.43758943[source]▶
WhatsApp isn't non-profit.