[d3Xt3r]

> I see social media in the same way as alcohol. Mostly good but definitely bad when abused.

I wouldn't call alcohol "mostly good". It is known to cause at least seven types of cancer, and the WHO has stated that "no level of alcohol consumption is safe"[1]. We really should get rid of the outdated and harmful mindset that it is safe or "cool" to consume alcohol.

I also disagree that social media is "mostly good". In fact, psychologists claim[2] that the very existence of social media harms everyone, through opportunity cost. Even if you barely touch any social media, the platforms have fundamentally altered the real-world social fabric around us in an irrevocable way.

[1] https://www.who.int/europe/news/item/04-01-2023-no-level-of-...

[2] Haidt, J (2024). The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness

[pitched]

HN is social media. I’m learning this on social media. That’s a good thing. [1]

What alcohol helps with is forming connections with other people. It lowers barriers to sharing and those connections are important. [2]

In a world in the middle of “loneliness epidemics”, these are more important than ever. Getting drunk obviously doesn’t help though. Neither does yelling at everything on Facebook for hours.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_reserve [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_support

[d3Xt3r]

HN isn't social media, it's a social news network[1] and maybe a forum, which is very different from social media.

Regarding your second argument, while forming connections is good, cancer isn't. I don't know if it's worth getting cancer to make connections.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacker_News