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0 pointsthrowaway7875444y ago0 comments

It's not the only source of the problem, but social media is certainly a big one.

Back in the day you didn't get rape threats from 50 anonymous accounts, or see pictures of you photoshopped sucking dicks, or feel like even more of a loser because you see in 4K detail how everybody else in class is having more fun outside of school. The internet is a threat and embarrassment and envy machine. You feel like you're constantly losing a battle to be relevant and have a good time, and you pathologically monitor feeds of other people's lives to try to stay ahead. When that doesn't work you lose yourself in mindless entertainment to avoid mental stress, also avoiding processing hard emotions.

That's not all new, but it's at a level higher than ever before.

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roland354y ago

The internet was certainly a lot lower stakes and fun in the 90s and early 2000s. We had fun taking over the mic and singing karaoke in Yahoo chatrooms, watching albino black sheep, and playing flash games on kongregator. Even early Facebook was just making funny groups and posting in each other's walls.

None of those activities really had me envying anyone else. I remember the first thing that made me feel worthless and unaccomplished was TED talks!

I agree the problem is that it's hard to separate our online life from our offline life now.

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cecilpl24y ago

When I was a teenager in the late 90s, I had escapes from the social hell of high school. I could go home, invite one or two close friends over, and play video games. I could find a super niche community on IRC and hang with them virtually. I felt like I had somewhere I could belong.

Now, as a teenager you are plugged into that social fabric 24/7. I can't imagine how difficult it must be to find yourself in that hyper-connected social graph.

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DougN74y ago

I had an epiphany below that it’s not just internet/social media as much as ALWAYS being connected to it via smart phones/tablets. Back in the day you got up and walked away, went outside, watched TV and you were completely away from it. Now we all carry it with is everywhere we go.

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sharemywin4y ago

Don't forget the 24/7 of it. No escape from bullies

oicU004y ago

I wonder what social media discourse would look like if it wasn’t full of ad spam, lamenting inequality, freedom to be oneself without old politicians being mad, and environment concerns for young people.

It’s not social media at all; it’s the reality they live in which happens to include social media. It’s plain truth; the majority don’t give a fuck about their future.

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