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

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506 points imakwana | 6 comments | 21 Apr 25 04:24 UTC | HN request time: 0.597s | 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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erkt ◴[21 Apr 25 14:07 UTC] No.43752184[source]▶
>solved by eliminating the "feed" and instead displaying posts, updates, and pictures from friends, family, and those we know in real life.

This is what Facebook was when we all signed up almost two decades ago. No one ever wanted a feed of people they didn't know. Free social media is inherently corrupt as they chase profits abusing the user base.

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1. zpeti ◴[21 Apr 25 14:18 UTC] No.43752297[source]▶
I think this is what your conscious mind thinks but your actual desires don’t.

Facebook was refocusing on friend and family content before TikTok came along. But they had to adjust to the TikTok trend otherwise they would have lost market share or potentially lost the entire market.

You might think you want friend and family content, but actually you don’t. Not as much as you want engaging content.

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2. svnt ◴[21 Apr 25 14:21 UTC] No.43752329[source]▶
This is slightly inaccurate.

You might want friend and family content, but engaging content will increase your dwell time and profitability as a user, often against your will.

3. _Algernon_ ◴[21 Apr 25 14:36 UTC] No.43752493[source]▶
You are equating action and desire which is a false equivalence. You wouldn't claim that somebody who died in a car accident wanted that to happen, would you?
4. jjulius ◴[21 Apr 25 15:18 UTC] No.43752939[source]▶
This ignores nuance. There's "engaging content" (nods head) and "engaging content" (shakes head).

I want the former, not the latter. Social media is optimized for the latter.

5. FuriouslyAdrift ◴[21 Apr 25 15:27 UTC] No.43753046[source]▶
My mind also wants lots of cocaine. That doesn't mean it should have it.
6. solumunus ◴[24 Apr 25 06:27 UTC] No.43779831[source]▶
All I know is I used Facebook 10x more when it was family and friends content.