[greggoB]

> We had the same problems before social media. It's not the cause, just a symptom.

It may not be the cause, but I think it's also not quite just a symptom. To me it looks like social media has taken an existing problem and made it worse, for all the reasons the parent comment describes, and then some.

> And Social Media is also useful for those who seek education. It's really more about motivation and presentation than the medium itself.

Also true, but I'm not sure this is prevalent or impactful enough for it to avoid being a net-negative. Also don't forget about the motivation & presentation of the platforms - they also have some outcomes they can optimize for, and I think there's a strong case to be made that they're optimizing for attention theft.