gms

Yes, because revealed preferences are different. Meta's properties (for example) have billions of users for a reason (me included).

Some people are prone to feeling bad irrespective of social media. One can also espouse the same view about video games (I don't play them anymore for this reason, but certainly did as a child/teenager).

I think you should talk to some real life teenagers to see how hysterical this impression is.

This is a manufactured impression by people who don’t understand these systems and the reality around them. Yes I would have played video games all day as a kid but I had a functional family and friends to engage with. It’s true that if you don’t have functional parents then perhaps all bets are off.

And anyway iPhones provide controls for parents to limit screen time.

It’s not mutually exclusive. If you interact with kids today you’ll see that they do both, just like I did with video games and in-person meeting. They’re still human beings.

I agree about being outsiders. Social media (if this is even a well-defined term) is just how people communicate these days. No need for hysteria and banning (I was on Slashdot in the 90s. Was that not social media?).

I think it’s as ignorant to want to ban kids from social media today as it was ignorant to want to ban my generation from video games 30 years ago. The kids at the time thought the adults were clueless people who did not understand technology. Kids today correctly think the same way about adults who are hysterical about social media.

Each parent can decide the time and age boundaries for their kids. But to think a 14 year old is going to accept being excluded from communication with their friends is just laughable.

Socialising. Same benefit I drew from playing video games with my friends when I was in school.

(Though, to be a bit pedantic about it, kids don't use Facebook.)

I know many parents who manage this fine, I don't see why you can't:

1. You control whether your child has a phone and how much they are allowed to use it (Apple provides all sorts of controls for parents).

2. Every child in the school is not an addict. This is (for lack of a better term) a boomer view of the world.

They've been around since before their current owners were born and espousing the same philosophies.

Does it generate native apps, or just Electron?

That's how the world works. No country produces everything.

No. It's a similar situation with certain AI features from Google.

I also found this to be a fun read! Was intending to skim but ended up reading the whole thing. The level of care shines through - nice work.