Technology

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But unlike guns and tobacco, widespread beliefs about social media’s mental health risks aren’t necessarily backed up by science, a fact you can read about in New York City’s own advisory about the subject.

“The most recent data in 2021, 38% of NYC high schoolers felt so sad or hopeless during the past year that they stopped engaging in their usual activities,” a problem that disproportionately affected young people identifying as Black, Latino, female, or LGBTQ+ in particular.

New York’s public health advisory follows a similar declaration from US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy in May 2023, which saw the nation’s top doctor warning that there are “ample indicators that social media can also have a profound risk of harm to the mental health and well-being of children and adolescents.” You might note the phrase “ample indicators” in that statement, however, which is worth a minute of consideration.

The platforms are responsible for spreading hate speech, turning conspiracy theories and misinformation into a full-blown societal crisis, fueling terrorism and drug cartels, and an endless and ever-growing list of other horrors.

The companies behind these sites are well aware of these problems, and they promise, hand to god, that they feel awful about the whole thing and it’s going to get better soon if you just wait—though, if you’re worried about your health, you might not want to hold your breath.

A recent study found that a social media detox did not improve mental health in an experiment that asked participants to stay offline.

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