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Sal Rahman

I just read two posts that has me believe that social media is not a net negative, and is probably a net positive overall.

More validation that me working on software in the social media space shouldn't have me feeling morally bankrupt.

Definitely time for me to go all in on the Fediverse.

Apr 04, 2024, 02:16 PM·Public·Web
2boosts·12favorites
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Sal Rahman

First study tests for markers of stress, through heart rate and cortisol levels, and the findings revealed that browsing for 20 minutes on a smart phone lead to a DECREASE in stress markers.

Accessible via the web here: journals.plos.org/plosone/arti

Oppenheimer S, Bond L, Smith C (2024) Social media does not elicit a physiological stress response as measured by heart rate and salivary cortisol over 20-minute sessions of cell phone use. PLOS ONE 19(4): e0298553. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0

Abstract The pervasive use of social media has raised concerns about its potential detrimental effects on physical and mental health. Others have demonstrated a relationship between social media use and anxiety, depression, and psychosocial stress. In light of these studies, we examined physiological indicators of stress (heart rate to measure autonomic nervous system activation and cortisol to assess activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis) associated with social media use and investigated possible moderating influences of sex, age, and psychological parameters. We collected physiological data from 59 subjects ranging in age from 13 to 55 across two cell phone treatments: social media use and a pre-selected YouTube playlist. Heart rate was measured using arm-band heart rate monitors before and during cell phone treatments, and saliva was collected for later cortisol analysis (by enzyme immunoassay) before and after each of the two cell phone treatments. To disentangle the effects of cell phone treatment from order of treatment, we used a crossover design in which participants were randomized to treatment order. (you can read the rest of the abstract at https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0298553)
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Sal Rahman

And also, children who scroll through social media can shape mental models of socially acceptable behaviour in mere hours, rather than years otherwise.

twitter.com/robkhenderson/stat

Post by Rob Henderson that cites an undisclosed book: "'In a real-life social setting, it takes a while to get a good sense for what the most common behaviors are...But on a social media platform a child can scroll through a thousand data points in one hour...They can shape mental models of acceptable behavior in a matter of hours'"
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Sal Rahman

@PeterMotte

First one accessible via the web here: journals.plos.org/plosone/arti

Oppenheimer S, Bond L, Smith C (2024) Social media does not elicit a physiological stress response as measured by heart rate and salivary cortisol over 20-minute sessions of cell phone use. PLOS ONE 19(4): e0298553. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0

journals.plos.orgSocial media does not elicit a physiological stress response as measured by heart rate and salivary cortisol over 20-minute sessions of cell phone useThe pervasive use of social media has raised concerns about its potential detrimental effects on physical and mental health. Others have demonstrated a relationship between social media use and anxiety, depression, and psychosocial stress. In light of these studies, we examined physiological indicators of stress (heart rate to measure autonomic nervous system activation and cortisol to assess activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis) associated with social media use and investigated possible moderating influences of sex, age, and psychological parameters. We collected physiological data from 59 subjects ranging in age from 13 to 55 across two cell phone treatments: social media use and a pre-selected YouTube playlist. Heart rate was measured using arm-band heart rate monitors before and during cell phone treatments, and saliva was collected for later cortisol analysis (by enzyme immunoassay) before and after each of the two cell phone treatments. To disentangle the effects of cell phone treatment from order of treatment, we used a crossover design in which participants were randomized to treatment order. Our study uncovered a significant period effect suggesting that both heart rate and cortisol decreased over the duration of our experiment, irrespective of the type of cell phone activity or the order of treatments. There was no indication that age, sex, habits of social media use, or psychometric parameters moderated the physiological response to cell phone activities. Our data suggest that 20-minute bouts of social media use or YouTube viewing do not elicit a physiological stress response.
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Sal Rahman

@PeterMotte

Second one… I'm sorry, I used the wrong term.

It wasn't an article.

It's just a Tweet, that has a snippet from an undisclosed book about social media use in children.

Full quote from the Tweet:

"In a real-life social setting, it takes a while to get a good sense for what the most common behaviors are...But on a social media platform a child can scroll through a thousand data points in one hour...They can shape mental models of acceptable behavior in a matter of hours"

twitter.com/robkhenderson/stat

X (formerly Twitter)Rob Henderson (@robkhenderson) on X"In a real-life social setting, it takes a while to get a good sense for what the most common behaviors are...But on a social media platform a child can scroll through a thousand data points in one hour...They can shape mental models of acceptable behavior in a matter of hours"
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Peter Motte

@manlycoffee I agree with " Social media does not elicit a physiological stress respons".
However, it does cost an enormous amount of time. I think that's the real problem.

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Sal Rahman

@PeterMotte

Yep, agreed.

I do feel a little conflicted after having followed up on the works of Cal Newport, author of "Deep Work".

Part of his overall (life) thesis is that social media is a major distraction, harming us our ability to do our best work.

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