> kids doing the bare minimum on homework in order to get back on social media faster

This was me for much of high school, but with Team Fortress 2 or Dota instead of social media.

Comic books, video games, television, skateboarding, fidget spinning - the list of things kids would rather do than homework is endless. I think a kid spending 4h+ on one activity is unhealthy either way, and it really comes back to the parents to be the arbiters. Speaking from experience, children (generally) aren't very good at predicting how best to spend their time, which is why involved parents are so important.

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jatins 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

The question is whether social media is closer to candy or cocaine.

You are right that kids will chose anything other than homework but how do you explain adults spending 8 hours a day on short form platforms? Don't think TV had this kind of a hold on people. Some gamers did tend to develop obsessive tendencies over gaming but now that seems much more widespread with social media

	▲	tayo42 an hour ago \| parent [-]
		> Don't think TV had this kind of a hold on people. Tvs in the bedroom, living rooms, kitchens, they're centerpieces of rooms. Sports on all day on weekends. They got put into cars. I get together with older family and they'll put the TV on and we sit around it. They only thing with TV is it wasn't convenient enough to be in our pockets all day.

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dtdynasty 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I was also one who spent their time playing dota in high school. In my experience one can learn more from playing dota than the average social media experience. Understanding team dynamics and emotional regulation to negative experiences outside your control. If you take the game seriously even prioritization and deliberate practice.

Of course not everyone learns from playing dota but at least it's a focused experience that doesn't steal focus away like short form videos.

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46493168 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Which items on the list have engineers dedicated to rapid A/B testing running 24-7 to amp up the engagement numbers?

	▲	FrojoS 16 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		That implies that the A/B testing will lead to a new version that is substantially more engaging. Maybe so, but it seems that the most successful social media platforms arrived at their optimal version more or less immediately. For instance, I (naively?) doubt that much A/B testing went into designing HN. Yet, no other site holds as much of a grip on me.