• @IllNess@infosec.pub
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    1022 days ago

    I was programming when I was in first grade. I was doing computer graphics and word processing somewhere around there. Those are important skillsets to have. I made use of those. You want kids to pick those up. You do not want to push those back. I’d get a computer of whatever form into their hands at the earliest point that they can avoid destroying it.

    Most kids aren’t improving their skillsets. They definitely aren’t programming on cell phones. I am a programmer. I have code editors that I paid for on my phone at all times. I’ve used them like 5 times at most.

    Social media and misinformation is damaging for everyone but more so for children. Social media is what kids are mostly doing.

    I agree that there can positives for using a cell phone. Their are educational software but most kids aren’t doing that.

    • @Rivalarrival
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      222 days ago

      Even if they are only figuring out how to ignore clickbait, they are improving their skill sets.

      Social media is “damaging”, in the same way that all social activities are “damaging”. The solution is not isolation, but early exposure. The last kid to get a phone is the one at greatest social disadvantage.

      • @pahlimur@lemmy.world
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        222 days ago

        Firm disagree. Social media, or more specifically algorithmic short form content these days, is extremely damaging. It’s different from anything that’s come before and has nothing to do with connecting with your peers.

        I graduated high-school in 2009 so I saw the beginning of popularized social media. Very few gained anything from participating in it. Mostly people who were good at marketing and building a following benefited.

        • @Rivalarrival
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          122 days ago

          It’s different from anything that’s come before and has nothing to do with connecting with your peers.

          Kids have always been evil little shits who get their jollies demoralizing and torturing the weak. Social media is just a newer avenue for old sociopathy.

          Social media, or more specifically algorithmic short form content

          Again, nothing particularly novel. Marketing, news, propaganda.

          • @IllNess@infosec.pub
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            022 days ago

            Again, nothing particularly novel. Marketing, news, propaganda.

            Marketing, news, and propaganda of the past never targeted people directly. It’s also not just feeding them content, it’s also taking and storing massive amounts of data from the user that will be used against them.

            • @Rivalarrival
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              122 days ago

              Yes, they have. Direct mailing, cold calling, lead farming, door-to-door, yes, all of it has been done, and most of it predates even the printing press. This isn’t social media; this is marketing, plain and simple. And marketing is the least damaging aspect of social media: they just want to exploit you. The people who aren’t after your money are the real danger.

              • @IllNess@infosec.pub
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                122 days ago

                Direct mailing, cold calling, lead farming, door-to-door

                None of those compare to what is happening now. Those are playing wack a mole hoping to get a sale. What’s happening now is recording everything you show a reaction to, whether enjoyable or not, and use it against the user.

                A list of names, address from marketers is nothing compared to the amount of data tech companies are getting from individuals.

                Just saying cold calling and door-to-door is the same as the data gathering tactics now shows your ignorance on the topic.

                • @Rivalarrival
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                  -121 days ago

                  What’s happening now is recording everything you show a reaction to, whether enjoyable or not, and use it against the user.

                  “Use it against the user”… For what? You make it sound nefarious, but it is just marketing. You aren’t being blackmailed. People are trying to sell you stuff. They’ve been doing that since forever.

                  Again, “marketing” is not the problem with social media. The harmful part of social media is the fucking people. Especially for kids, who are trying to figure out how to get along with everyone, but haven’t yet learned that most people are assholes who should be ignored.

                  • @IllNess@infosec.pub
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                    121 days ago

                    Marketing can be really broad. You can market a shirt or you can convince someone to join a cult. And you can find out if someone is more likely to join a cult through the gathered data.

                    If you don’t see the dangers of propaganda and misinformation, like I said:

                    Just saying cold calling and door-to-door is the same as the data gathering tactics now shows your ignorance on the topic.

        • @Rivalarrival
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          222 days ago

          You can try, but you’ll be teaching to deaf ears until they have seen enough to understand what the hell you’re talking about.

          • @IllNess@infosec.pub
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            -122 days ago

            Kinda like teaching kids about heroin or cocaine.

            They should also learn not talking to strangers by putting their lives at danger.

            There have been priests that taught sex education using your logic.

            • @Rivalarrival
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              021 days ago

              There have been priests that taught sex education using your logic.

              The kids who “learn” from such priests are kids who haven’t been exposed to proper sex ed. Generally, they’ve learned that sex is something that should be concealed. It’s a secret that the kid isn’t supposed to know about, so of course they don’t tell anyone about it, because they know how to stay out of trouble.

              Gatekeeping the Internet works the same way. If you’re going to do that, you might as well download the sex offender registry and invite them all to the kid’s birthday party.

              • @IllNess@infosec.pub
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                -121 days ago

                So you want kids to understand cocaine and heroin and sex by a professional instead of a priest. If they don’t then in your logic, they will fall on deaf ears.

                Language is incredible. You can describe experiences that others have without actually being there or doing those things. It even works with fiction! Or horrible events like war! Or even drugs without exposing them to it!

                Gatekeeping the Internet works the same way. If you’re going to do that, you might as well download the sex offender registry and invite them all to the kid’s birthday party.

                I never said to prevent them from using the internet, I said social media.

                • @Rivalarrival
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                  -121 days ago

                  I never said to prevent them from using the internet, I said social media.

                  You say that like there is any sort of meaningful difference.