PinnedSocial Media HarmsHighlighting Studies that Big Tech Doesn’t Want You to See — In the history of technology, social media platforms have been around for a relatively short time. Per Sinan Aral in his book, “The Hype Machine i”, digital social networks have been around since at least 2002 with the founding of Friendster. In the intervening 20 years, social media platforms and…Mental Health Awareness4 min read
Pinned4 Reasons to Delete Your Facebook AccountMeta’s Feed algorithm promotes the posts of anxious and/or depressed users, misinformation, and violence — Facebook whistleblower Francis Haugen revealed many dark secrets both in the Facebook Papers and in various interviews, with the most interesting information coming from the Center for Humane Technology’s Your Undivided Attention podcast. These revelations and the response from Meta’s C-suite executives made the following points clear:Social Media3 min read
Published in Social Media Harms·5 hours agoKids Online Safety Act of 2022 (KOSA) Week, May 23–27, 2022Call or Write Your U. S. Senators This Week to Urge the Senate Commerce Committee to Advance this Legislation by the End of May 2022 — Not for profit organizations Avaaz and Parents Together are promoting a campaign to advocate for the United States Senate Commerce Committee to advance the Kids Online Safety Act to be considered by the full Senate by the end of May 2022. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) introduced…Children And Technology4 min read
Published in Social Media Harms·1 day ago“Blackout Challenge”-A Deadly Social Media GameParent Sues TikTok After December 2021 Death of 10 Year-Old Daughter — Social media challenges have been around since these platforms came into widespread use in the late 2000s. The “Blackout Challenge” dares users to choke themselves until they pass out. These challenges come with different labels such as the “ChokingGame” and “thepassoutchallenge.” Tawainna Anderson is suing TikTok and its parent company…Parents3 min read
Published in Social Media Harms·May 6100 Peer-Reviewed Studies Document the Mental Health and Societal Harms of Social Media UseDenial of Social Media Harms Continues Despite Ample Evidence to the Contrary — 13 Senators Support Legislation Regulating Big Tech — Updated May 12, 2022 to add new U.S. Senators to the bi-partisan list of legislators that support regulation of Big Tech. Social Media Harms (SMH) reached a grim milestone this week. SMH lists now contain over 100 peer-reviewed studies that demonstrate negative effects of social media use upon adults, adolescents…Teens And Social Media7 min read
Published in Social Media Harms·Apr 25Facebook’s Most Widely Viewed Content is…SPAMIntegrity Institute Report Finds Repetitive, Angry Content in Facebook’s Top 20 Posts and Links — On March 30, 2022, the Integrity Institute released its analysis of Facebook’s quarterly Widely Viewed Content Report for 2021-Q4, authored by co-founder Jeff Allen. This analysis includes a dashboard which provides a comparison of the 2021-Q4 report to the 2021-Q2 and 2021-Q3 reports. Facebook’s report shares what it claims to…Facebook4 min read
Published in Social Media Harms·Apr 1Do You Post Angry, Extreme Tweets to Reaffirm Views You Are Beginning to Doubt?Or is it that Twitter Is Training You to be a Troll? — Moral outrage is defined by C. Daniel Baston and colleagues as: “anger provoked by the perception that a moral standard — usually a standard of fairness or justice — has been violated (Hoffman, 2000; Montada &Schneider, 1989).” Bence Nanay, PhD., a professor of Philosophy at Cambridge University noted in his…Social Media3 min read
Published in Social Media Harms·Mar 3060+ Advocacy Organizations Ask U.S. Congress to Implement Online Safety Regulations for Children & TeensMomentum for these protections is growing. Will Congress Act? — On March 22, 2022, Fairplay and The Center for Digital Democracy published an open letter to the majority and minority leaders of the U.S. Congress requesting that they enact legislation to protect children and teens online. …Parents And Children2 min read
Published in Social Media Harms·Mar 25When Social Media Challenges Are Deadly #thechokinggame #passoutchallenge and now the “Blackout challenge”The Stories of Mason Bogard and Eric Robinson — The second episode in “The Harms” series of the podcast No App for Life tells the stories of Mason Bogard and Eric Ronbinson who died attempting the social media challenge, the Choking Game (#thechokinggame) also known as #thepassoutchallenge and more recently the “blackout challenge.” Mason Bogard Fifteen year-old Mason died on May…Teens And Social Media4 min read
Published in Social Media Harms·Mar 18Cyberbullying Has Tragic ConsequencesA Tribute to Carson Bride Carson James Bride was a quiet, caring 16 year old who had recently completed his sophomore year at Riverdale High School near Portland, Oregon. …Cyberbullying Prevention5 min read
