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Social Media Are Driving Americans Insane (bloomberg.com)
Deena Shanker, writing for Bloomberg: If you pull out your phone to check Twitter while waiting for the light to change, or read e-mails while brushing your teeth, you might be what the American Psychological Association calls a "constant checker." And chances are, it's hurting your mental health. Last week, the APA released a study finding that Americans were experiencing the first statistically significant stress increase in the survey's 10-year history. In January, 57 percent of respondents of all political stripes said the U.S. political climate was a very or somewhat significant source of stress, up from 52 percent who said the same thing in August. On Thursday, the APA released the second part of its 1 findings, "Stress In America: Coping With Change," examining the role technology and social media play in American stress levels. [...] The highest stress levels, it should be noted, are reserved for those who constantly check their work e-mail on days off. Their average stress level is 6.0. So those of you who think it's somehow pleasant to work from home on a Saturday afternoon, you're actually fooling yourself.
...than the current Psychotic-in-Chief?
I definitely got a little burned out on Social Media since the election. I think I've used Twitter a half dozen times since then, and am only checking Facebook once or twice a day, usually to send birthday greetings. Some days I don't get on at all. It definitely lets you do more important/productive things, and you stay out of arguments with your left/right friends who are posting fallacious memes.
Taking guns away from the 99% gives the 1% 100% of the power.
Uhmmm... seriously ? Since there has been obviously *zero* change in the political landscape between August last year and January this year, the only possible conclusion for the reportedly increased stress from the political landscape is social media. Rrrright... We don't need fake news when plain idiocy will do just fine.
There was a time when we spent most of our free time outdoors, playing games or hiking/biking, swimming etc. And we lived in the city. I pity the under 45s, if they had to exist for two seconds without a computer or phone, they'd melt. Sorry to say but it sucks to be you.
I've never used Facebook on the go, only on my desktop. I don't understand why people want to.
And I've been trying to think of a use case for Twitter for several years, but I got nothing.
It is not driving me insane!
now give me a minute to see what fark, deadspin, facebook, twitter, reddit, tumblr, livejournal, wordpress, and blogger have to say about it.
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
In this case, the medium is not the message.
What's driving Americans insane is the manifest insanity of certain Americans.
This is 45's and peoples like him, standard operating procedure. Exhaust you, damage your mental health, make you stop fighting them. It is important to rest and take care of yourself so that you can RESIST and PERSIST!
Blaming the discussion platforms instead of the madman at the helm for the uniform rise in political anxiety is just the sort of thing that is causing the stress to rise in the first place. Well, at least for me, but I was already a little touched to begin with.
You are being ripped off every second of every day, so that advertisers can help rip you off even more tomorrow.
I refuse to use any form of social media. Nobody ever talks to me, since I am not a member of society.
is all the alerting
Snapchat
Instagram
Twitter
Texts
Phone calls
Emails
Alerts from work
I literally have to turn all this shit off and put my phone on silent just to not go insane.
The highest stress levels, it should be noted, are reserved for those who constantly check their work e-mail on days off. Their average stress level is 6.0. So those of you who think it's somehow pleasant to work from home on a Saturday afternoon, you're actually fooling yourself.
That's on a scale of 1 to 10, and the average across America is 4.4 for those who didn't RTFA. (Extremely sloppy summarizing. Way to go, msmash!)
And besides, this is only a correlation - the article does not identify whether constant email checking causes stress, or if people who are already stresses are more likely to check emails. It further goes on to state:
About 42 percent of constant checkers specifically point to political and cultural discussions as causing stress. And the impacts play out in real life—35 percent of constant checkers say they are less likely to spend time with family and friends because of social media.
Suggesting (at least to me) that constant email checking and high stress levels simply have a common precursor, not that one causes the other.
"Government is like fire; a handy servant, but a dangerous master." -- George Washington
It the same as to stay in the midst of a mob where everyone is shouting arbitrary bullshit. What would you expect?
I think the big problem is that everyone seems to want to use social media to shout their political and social beliefs constantly and non-stop. Before the rise of social media I had a pretty good idea of where my friends were in the political/social spectrum, but we never really discussed it. Now it seems that everyone must not only tell you where they stand on issues, but they have to tell you why you're wrong for not taking the same stance. Day after day with the smug condescending memes, fake news pieces from whacked out websites, pointless hoaxes that Snopes debunked years ago ad nausem. After a while it just gets on your nerves and you either join them, drop out, or go insane. I've pretty much filtered or unfollowed just about everyone on Facebook because I'm tired of it (whether I agreed with them or not). If it wasn't for some of the computer groups I follow I'd probably never log into FB anymore.
Humans spot risk, oddities in recognisable patterns and are far more likely to remember negative events because they are hard wired to do so.
As hunter-gatherers (you know, in the time before writing and the invention of religion) we'd either learn to spot danger and do what we can to avoid it or have decreased chances of survival...fast forward 100(?) thousands years or so and the information revolution gave us access to numerous sources of negativity and percieved risk. Once upon a time to find a heretic you had to travel! -now you can speak with a blasphemer in under 10 seconds just go to a forum or heck, skype them!
Some people are unable to detach, disassociate or become desensitised. Often the stress is not even about real threats just amplified mass fear of awful weather, cheating in their favourite sport, injustice of what they consider their basic rights etc.
Basically like all humans, people suffer from the human condition. Humans are irrational. They are more concerned with controlling borders than traffic accidents despite traffic being the proven killer. They are more worried about terrorists than the flu and yet one kils hundreds of times more. Humans are scared their children might develop diametrically opposed beliefs if they associate with certain other kids but turn a blind eye to the negative imapcts of their own beliefs because they seldom scrutinize it...the list goes on.
Americans are not crazy but they are being driven crazy by a political system that preys on fear. News network that compete to report the latest disaster. Corporations that research their insecurities about their body and sell them shit they do not need.
Actually this happens everywhere...somehow this more pronounced in the US for reasons I'll let others suggest.
A 'singular oddity' is an event that cannot be explained and only happens when you are alone.
feature phone will be a huge sell in near future.. Thus NOKIA..
Americans are driving Americans insane. Social Media is just the common and ubiquitous method of spreading the madness.
It's an issue of National Security. We need to halt the operation of these two businesses for a period of 1 year in order to reevaluate their impact on security.
Step 1: Delete your social media account. Step 2: Travel. Step 3: ????. Step 4: Profit
I had my wife log me out of Facebook and change the password. She knows it if I ever want to get back in. It's been a month and it's been generally great. I ended up with time for stuff I "never had time for" -- Crosswords, books, movies, 8+ hours of sleep, time with the kids, home projects, etc. I'm more focused at work and sleep better. This makes me less grumpy, impresses my boss and also makes me eat better and get in regular workouts. The elimination of FB has made it easier to have a virtuous cycle that feeds on itself rather than an endless stream of crappy memes and political crap that doesn't really help my life in any appreciable way. If I ever choose to return to FB I'm going to cull the friends list tremendously, I expect it to drop precipitously to maybe 15-20 people, generally family and friends I legitimately want to keep up with.
I know there are differences in British English VS American English, but I was pretty sure since social media is not an entity and it is a reference to something, that the correct usage would be "Social Media is driving Americans insane" - especially given the article is about Americans.
do your self a favor, delete your account permanently, 15-20 people is not that many to keep up with using any other means of personal communication with the added bonus of said personal communication making the friendship stronger through the gesture of putting effort into such a relationship.
Even if you cull your friends list, you are still subjecting yourself to the algorithms of facebook which when pressed for content to deliver you grabs from ads and sensationalist news stories. Do not subject your self back into a system that is meant to draw you in and get you to further expand your friends list and or social media presence.
The only way to win such a game is not to play. considering that you have started to see the rewards of not playing the game, Why would you ever go back?
As if I needed a reason not to have any (anti-)social media accounts.
Thanks, but I like my craziness and and insanity to be of my own making, all mine as it were.
Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
Wow, it's an interesting exercise to replace "FB" with "Heroin" in your post. It still makes sense. Maybe it's time to haul up Zuckerbock in front of a Congressional Committee, Big Tobacco style, and have him claim that FB is not addictive. Or maybe a class action suit for promoting a product that damages the health of the general public.
Unfortunately, just like with Heroin, making it illegal would not stop folks from abusing it until it causes their deaths.
Well, at least the death of their sanity. And, as with Heroin addicts, FB addicts are most of the time somebody else's problem.
Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
It's more akin to when I gave up on a lot of television than drug addiction. I made a decision that I was assigning too high a priority (and subsequently spending too much time on) something that was delivering low value for my leisure time, and I was missing out on other activities that could deliver more enjoyment and pleasure than Facebook was giving me. My wife changing the password creates a barrier to entry that's high enough that I'll go find something else to do rather than trying to get the password or do the password reset thing.
For instance, for me to watch television today I have ridiculously high standards. If a show gets boring, I drop it. I give a new show at most three episodes, if it hasn't hooked me by then, it's not worth it. With so many other ways to pass the time and only so much time, I'd rather play a well made video game for an hour than spend that same hour watching lackluster television. Or I'd prefer to watch a good movie I just haven't had time to see but that I've heard was well worth watching. Not to mention books, crosswords, etc. There are plenty of great leisure options out there, why waste time you'll never get back on mediocre entertainment?
Sounds actionable to me. I'll check back to see whether they have any updates for this story.
"Insane people over-use social media sites"
love is just extroverted narcissism
The highest stress levels, it should be noted, are reserved for those who constantly check their work e-mail on days off.
It's the economy, stupid. Things are improving now though.
Er, how is that news? Look at what happened November 8th, 2016 for insanity index. Forecast; High.
Chance of dunderheads: 100%
Protectionism, Xenophobia, and nut job anti-consumerism regulations to be expected for the next two years.
Sticking busybody noses into random vaginas guaranteed.
Skyhigh medical bills and health insurance: Paid for by lobbyists that stand to gain.
Hilarity, hypocrisy and hysteria: delivered.
Global shunning: On the way.
Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.
"Social media IS driving americans insane"
FFS!
As a potential lottery winner, I totally support tax cuts for the wealthy
At first, for a brief moment in time, comments on Yahoo's news articles were reasonably civil. But they devolved from "intelligent" conversations in a big hurry because you could say whatever you wanted to with no social consequences because things were anonymous. Then Facebook came along, and at briefly brought a little of that civility back because your friends and family were going to see what you would post. But lately it seems as though even that barrier is being broken because people are realizing that their family and peers tend to share similar beliefs, and are not putting people in check when norms are violated. Filters are being removed, people are becoming nasty, minds are being closed to outside opinion. I fear that this mindset will be expanding further and further into meatspace. And given our recent selection of Commander in Chief, I feel that this mindset is making it into the real world fast.
Checking that other people notice you and approve of your trivial thoughts: No, that's called narcissism. Although to be fair, it might be someone else complaining that you haven't noticed her and approved of her trivial thoughts.
There's always change yet most of us aren't at the coal-face making urgent decisions. We vote with our wallets and our time which is usually sufficient input to improve/worsen the world. The problem is, we have social media telling us we need to do something now and we need to agree with the people telling us that. Social media tends to be wrong on both counts.
I was getting annoyed about Facebook and finding that I was spending time on it and not really finding it worthwhile, but the monkey-brain habit was already ingrained so I kept going back. I honestly stopped the habit completely with just a couple steps:
1. Uninstall the Facebook app
2. If I ever end up opening Facebook in the browser, log out completely when I'm done, and don't save the password or username
Turns out that when I have to go through several steps (open browser, navigate to Facebook, type in username, type in password) it's disruptive enough to the mindless "Check Facebook" routine I had developed that it killed it entirely. I went from checking it 5-6 times a day to checking it once or twice a month, and life is much better.
And many-paged, and more than just one per town. Today, cash-strapped and journo-poor, the sole local newspaper is for the bird cage and the coupons.
"So those of you who think it's somehow pleasant to work from home on a Saturday afternoon, you're actually fooling yourself."
No, not necessarily. Some of us would prefer this to going into an office.
What about if I work from home on a Tuesday or Friday afternoon, am I still "fooling myself"? Because I think I know what I prefer.
Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
"Americans are not crazy but they are being driven crazy by a political system that preys on fear" - by GeekWithAKnife ( 2717871 ) on Thursday February 23, 2017 @04:11PM (#53920181)
That's the one & to quote my last name namesake from Blade Runner in Leon K.? "Terrible to live in fear, isn't it? Like having an itch you can NEVER scratch!"
* They breed their OWN demise in using it vs. their own tribe... us!
APK
P.S.=> The entire strata of 'controllers' (FAR above the former political parties, since I hope Pres. Trump is above that)? It ISN'T our politicians but rather FASCISM in its purest classical form, evidenced by undue influence of BIG corporate dollars (when you hear FOOLS say "Trump is fascist", the fuckers do NOT know what they're talking about - what it IS, is the lobbyist BULLSHIT we've been enduring)... apk
I've got two spoof accounts on Facebook, one for work - we're an agency selling Social Media Marketing among other things,so it's more or less expected of me - and one I established roughly 7 years ago when i started social dancing and constantly meeting people who asked me if I was on Facebook. I looked at Twitter a few months after it came out, thought "wtf?" after 3 minutes and have used it since maybe 4 times or so. No inroads at all with instagram, whatscrap and other data hogs.
Long story short, even though I'm your Type A 80ies computerkid who has never had less than 5 email accounts in the last 2 decades and who was on Fidonet back in the day posting every day, I see a significant difference between me and many many other people. Today *I* am the one who's more away from electronic media than the average - a thing quite unthinkable back in the 90ies. Even though I haven't changed my habits that much.
Facebook I consider particularly evil, as it is a funnel of constant superficial vanity-induced anti-social behaviour that, as far as I can tell, has a significant impact on the general social skills of people growing up with it. Facebook here being a synonym for anything "social" media these days. A fascinating look into someone from this social media native generation is Essena O'Neills account on why she quit her life as an instagram "professional". Yes, you can shake your head in disbelief about the naivity and the obviousness of what she finally realised, but don't forget: these are people who grew up with this - they never knew anyhting else - which makes her account ever more honest, poignant and impressive.
Conclusion:
I see the signs left, right and center: Social media has a significant negative impact on the general publics mental health. To put it in other words: FB is not a social network, it's basically a global mental illness.
My 2 cents.
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
Tech reporting has gotten more negative than it used to be. I mean really, could you ask for a clearer example? We just elected a totally insane president who wants to build more nukes and denounces the press as the enemy of the people. So obviously we should blame social media for people being more stressed???
"I'm too busy to research this and form an educated opinion, but I do have time to tell everyone my uninformed opinion."
The article is riding on Social media hype.... talks about social media but uses email as the most extreme example.
if I stretch it out further, I'll start including mass paper flyer distribution and public bulletins. Hey it's allowing people to communicate to the masses!
I'm not exactly sure WHY I still frequent Slashdot. That is what you meant, right?
Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
IS a collective noun. If msmash worked a real job at a real publisher, he she or it would have been let go for stubborn refusal to conform to orthographic standards.
with a whole lot of weed smoking. Nothing stresses me out. So when is this election everyone is talking about?
The fact that this got a Troll moderation is proof positive that complete idiots do get mod points, because this post is spot-on.
I don't use social media.
I tried FB - didn't like it. Deleted it.
I tried LinkedIn - got slammed with a billion idiot recruiters. Deleted it.
I tried Twitter - was not a fan. Deleted it.
I try not to be on Whatsapp or WeChat 24/7. If I get a person on Whatsapp that gets upset if I am not online, I tell them to take a hike.
Phone - https://xkcd.com/1802/
I never really understood the allure of heroin. My friends kept urging me... "You gotta try it" they would say. I finally caved in and bought some, but I just couldn't commit to injecting. With no real reward for my effort, I just deemed that it was a huge waste of my time, and disposed of what I had. I have been free and clear of it since, and I couldn't feel better.
FACEBOOK. I meant Facebook, not heroin.
THANK YOU! That grammar mistake was DRIVING ME INSANE!
And what makes them even bigger idiots is the fact that they spent their mod point on an AC (I'm posting as one because I already modded in the thread).
Facebook can be used for a lot of good things, like keeping in contact with people you are unable to see, meeting new people, knowing when there's an event nearby or organizing one...and since you don't put social media in your body they don't really cause an addiction, it's all in your brain and you'll have no trouble quitting them if you decide you don't need them - no withdraval symptoms like with drugs, alcohol or cigarettes.
yep - everyone in the fucking world know why Americans are stressed and checking to see what the fuck will happen next... the
Donald Duck Dump
--- hey neocons on slashdot (the other 30% this isn't fair, i know) .....
TREMENDOUS! job!
SAD!
HAHAHAHAH
go suck one (not a dick, but whatever you dislike, maybe its moose shit?)
FUCK YOU NEOCON PIECES OF DUMB ASSED/RELIGIOUS/UNEDUCATED/RACIST/EXCEPTIONAL/GREEDY DIPSHITS!
did you know the neocons or teaparty or alex jones cunts stress people out?
On that note its a false equivalency because I stress neocons, wusses and idiots out... but i'm not a stupid american anymore so its not really equal is it?
go check out the fake outrage that you cunts harvested
Dj fuQ [url="http://djfuq.org"]djfuq urges you to listen to the beats[/url] [url="http://djfuq.org"]http://djfuq.org[
Per the other story today.
Tracy Johnson
Old fashioned text games hosted below:
http://empire.openmpe.com/
BT
"Social media IS driving americans insane"
FFS!
"Media" is the plural form of "medium." I'll admit that the common vernacular has been to treat "media" as a singular noun, but if you use the "proper grammar" argument then "are" was the correct word for the headline to use.
See my subject: You're ashamed of your real name & either user multiple fake names online or unidentifiable ac posts. That makes you a dead man in essence dying the 1,000 deaths of a coward & you KNOW it.
* I'm FAR from fat (my past as a former lettering 1st string (mostly) attack/midfielder for a champion level college in their division in the NCAA assures it (good habits stay w/ you into older years, metabolism stays solid)) & FAR from insane (but you project YOU are as well as a cowardly online worm).
Now, my estimation of YOU vs. what I did say to which YOU responded so "not eloquently"? You must be one of those "millenial" wastes that sucks off the welfare tit (you're like a junkie hooked on it & probably are a heroin junkie as so many of your generation are) & can't STAND no more "YoBama phone" free that taxpayers like myself pay for for wastes like you, lol!
You must fear Pres. Trump's going to put a STOP to your free ride, lol!
APK
P.S.=> Must piss you off you WASTED your life (as well as food & oxygen the productive rest of us should use vs. "your kind" doing so, lol)... apk
See my subject: Yea, I'm just "so afraid" of those (not). It amazes me the whimps that infest this place & others online - why did your parents (I suspect you're fatherless bastards raised by women actually BECAUSE of how you act, whimps, lol) waste time on giving "your kind" life I wonder?
You don't realize how STUPID & WEAK you appear to the rest of us, do you? Clue - you do. Massively stupid whimps, nothing more & serious WASTES of life as the do-nothing "ne'er-do-wells" you are (& THAT IS YOUR OWN FAULT, failures, nobody elses)
APK
P.S.=> See, the BEST part of what I write IS YOUR "ReAcTiOnZ", lol - it proves what I write is truth vs. little unidentifiable "cartoon characters fakes" lives like yours - truth ALWAYS "gets a rise" outta losers like you, every SINGLE time (makes me laugh)... apk
Would they? That would be so dastardly... I get the personal comments, but no, this is no different communications than any gospel, or writers publishing texts and readers looking for them, except for the speed, availability and reach. Much easier for all even if the interfaces... every day... at any moment... But think of doing the same with pamphlets and books! It was more insane to struggle for a publisher than DIY and to be around in your Life Quest for That Only and Unique Book Revealing Truth, when you could not just type the word and get all you can eat of it in the next microsecond. And still I am looking for some books... meaning very alert. Schizophrenics WILL be glued to this media if they can get confirmation of the voices they hear and may even identify the source, along with others expressing their thought trains on the same line. If the research did not take it into account, it is biased. But surely this CAN be read outside this Big City, can it??? THAT is a source of stress, indeed, for social media users.
Damnit, you're giving me more reason to think about the (joking but probably would work) plan of getting FB cut off for 6 hours and seeing the horrible response and ultimate feeling of helplessness and inability to function that people would demonstrate. Make it 12 and we're getting near danger level. Leave it cut off for over 24 and it would be the ultimate equivalent of doomsday fear. The. World. Is. Ending.
I copyright this, so no one is allowed to go make a movie out of it. :)
THANK YOU! That grammar mistake was DRIVING ME INSANE!
I hear ya. I can't stand spelling or grammar errors in anythings anymore.
*snort* I had to.
'Media' here is being treated as the plural of medium (eg. a medium of communication), hence form of to be to agree with plurality. However, I agree: usage has long since passed the point where 'media' should be considered a plural --one would not refer to FaceBook as a 'social medium' for instance. Therefore "Social Media is" ... is to be preferred.