How a new generation of humans is coming up

Social media companies are creating a world that's dangerous for children. Society is watching helplessly.

 How a new generation of humans is coming up

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• Expose in the US: In October 2021, it was revealed in the US Congress that big social media firms are so profit-focused that they don't even care for children's mental health. Whistleblower Frances Haugen blamed ex-employer FB for "operating in the shadows".
• Technically explained: She explained how FB ensures that company entices young users to stick to content, and makes targeted advertising possible. It's tough for common people to understand how dangerous this is. But lawmakers realised that restraints on FB need to be tighter.
• Defence: FB founder Mark Zuckerberg immediately defended the company, like always. But interestingly, all blame on FB regarding how it damages the self-image of teenagers has never translated into compensatory amounts it ought to pay them. Also, no one talks about how tough it is for teachers now to nurture children properly, given the social media presence.
• Maria Ressa: The Nobel Peace prize winner 2021 from the Philippines said that her country saw degradation of liberal democracy due to the behaviour modificaition that social media did. People have lost the ability to separate reality from propagated narratives.
• Behaviour modification: This idea is not new to educators, and is a theme in education itself. India saw it in 2020, when crores of children were suddenly exposed to the online world of learning, without any prior prepration and warning!

1. With that massive exposure came the problem of inappropriate content and pornography
2. Then there's the problem of addiction to digital media
3. In fact, the one-laptop-per-child situation is a dangerous one, turning children into digital addicts

• Family and school out: The domain where family and school would be present always, is being totally replaced by tech giants. Predatory threats were removed by family and schools, earlier.

1. Children are being rampantly bombarded with wrong content, and hateful message and propaganda
2. Frances Haugen warned of the scale of this problems where falsities, hoaxes and rumous circulate
3. Social media firms do little as that's where they make money

• Protecting the children: Rampant exploitation of kids was the norm even in the West, in the era before 20th century. America and Europe took centuries to create systems to protect children. In the digital era, protecting children is far more difficult now.
• Culture is communication: Experts like Harold Innis wrote that culture is a function of modes of communication. Digital platforms are now shaping human emotions. Given the vast scale of hate content, turning humans into animals and urchins. And this is profitable for private corporates. The future of mankind can only be imagined now!
• EXAM QUESTIONS: (1) As a parent, what would you do to keep your child safe from digital hate and violence? Analyse. (2) Why are societies and governments failing to respond to the massive attack on children's psychology by digital content? Explain. (3) Facebook's entire model is anti-children, if one looks carefully at the damage its platform do to children psychology. Yet, it continues to make money. Explain capitalism's lasting paradox.

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