[psychphysic]

It's funny that we're so compelled to innumerate all the ways social media is toxic and not do anything about it.

Yet Canada is considering printing individual warnings on cigarettes despite fully saturating understanding that smoking is bad.

I'm fully with each and every tweet warning you "tweeting makes you a dickbag please reconsider"

[ben_w]

> I'm fully with each and every tweet warning you "tweeting makes you a dickbag please reconsider"

I vaguely recall somewhere had a speech synthesiser read everyone's comments back at them before letting people post them.

Someone un-ironically complained it made them "sound stupid".

(I think it was YouTube? Not sure).

[lcnPylGDnU4H9OF]

If this isn't real, I'd guess you're remembering the XKCD linked in a sibling comment to yours. I kinda like your version more. The XKCD version where the poster has an actual moment of introspective clarity doesn't make sense to my cynical mind.

[ben_w]

If it is me misremembering fiction as fact, it wouldn't be the first time…

(Even if I do have a strong memory that this was in addition to the XKCD).

[mmastrac]

The smoking rates have halved since 2000 with no signs of slowing down. Subtle warnings do help.

[psychphysic]

Suspiciously in time for the even more addictive vaping boom.

But this is all beside the point.

[Loughla]

In 2022, our local health department did a presentation about the wild success of anti-smoking campaigns in the high schools. They just couldn't pat themselves on the back hard enough.

My favorite thing was the interaction between the health department and a local principal, it went something like this:

Health Department representative reading off of a slide: "fewer than 5% of teens reported they had tried a tobacco product last year, with fewer than 1% indicating they had smoked a cigarette. We attribute this to the DARE and Too Good for Drugs campaigns as well as constant outreach from the DoH."

Principal: "we had to install vape detectors in every bathroom stall and then re-install them and hide them when the kids bashed them. We think that about 3/4 of the graduating class vapes."

Health Department: blank stares

There is what seems to be a willful ignorance about this in many professional circles. It's very strange to me.

[sidewndr46]

I went to a university that oddly enough banned smoking specifically. Not tobacco or tobacco use, but smoking. You could do it at some distance from a building, but that was it.

In some classrooms greater than 50% of the male students would have "dip" or other oral tobacco products on their desk during lecture.

[gabereiser]

Pay no attention to the left hand, they are one and the same. Owned by the same megacorp. Altria. Tobacco is bad so let’s drive it down and show what a wonderful job we did responding to congress’ accusations we targeted kids to get them addicted for life. Also Altria, let’s sue Juul and hostile takeover and market vaping to children with fruity flavors of candy and mint.

[hanniabu]

Especially when they're not so subtle, like text on a plain cigarette that you're holding up to your face

[trescenzi]

https://xkcd.com/481/