@YohanProYT it can be argued that social comparison always existed and social media amplified it, and now when it is becoming obvious, the trend is being reversed slowly. But the main point being - it's a cultural shift, and you cannot call cultural shifts inherently bad because they do have a LOT of participants by definition, enough to change the culture.

Same for tiktok, social isolation, , time wasted, models, etc

The contents of dark web always have existed, it's just a distribution platform

Lack of monitoring of content isn't really a reason - the internet is heavily moderated and most bad bad stuff is taken out before users get to it.

Pornography consumption may be bad, but it's also done a lot f good in terms of normalizing a lot of stuff and un-tabooing a lot of stuff so idk

@YohanProYT I think effect size is more important than number of effects.

@YohanProYT i wonder what you mean by "Targeted advertising made to manipulate the public"

@firstuserhere I was mainly referring to Facebook and the Cambridge Analytica scandal. But targeted ads do increase this phenomenon of consumerism.

@ZZZZZZ I don't actually believe that the internet has done more damage than good like it's asked but I didn't see anyone make counter arguments and it would be a boring conversation if everyone was just agreeing. That's why I wrote a list of things that the internet does to damage our society.

@Dreamingpast I'm too young to know if it really existed before the internet came around I imagine it did of course but like most things already existed but were simply amplified by the internet, maybe before it wasn't a problem but now it's everywhere and is much more harmful.

To be honest Tiktok and Instagram Models was just me hating it was really an argument. But time wasted caused by this new infinite scroll design in social media is frightening. Not so long ago I watched a documentary, can't remember what the name was, but they were interviewing someone that was part of the team that implemented the infinite scroll to social media platforms and he was explaining how much time humanity lost in infinite scroll I can't cite any relevant source so take this with a grain of salt, it's said that together we lose around 200k entire lifetimes daily thanks to infinite scrolling.

Of course the dark web didn't create anything but it made these things much more accessible.

When I wrote lack of monitoring is was referring to parents and their children I use public transportation a lot and every day I see moms with their babies and whenever the baby starts crying they would just give them their phone to use videos or so to calm them down. I can't see how this could happen if the internet wasn't a thing.

I agree with you about Pornography I've learned a lot about anatomy and stuff that I probably should've learned from sex education in school from porn. But the positive impacts certainly don't outweigh the negative ones.

@firstuserhere

>> imagine what the global pandemic would've looked like

I don't think this is the argument you think it is.

Without the Internet, it would have looked like the Spanish Flu.

Economic necessity would have forced everybody, even the rich and powerful, to work (earn riches, exert power...) in person. I think in this world, lockdowns wouldn't have happened: since in-person interaction felt normal and necessary, I suspect there would have been much impetus to close restaurants etc., especially for extended periods.

The pandemic would have been deadlier, but the overall impact on mental health and quality of life would have been much, much smaller. On balance, I think this would have been a good thing.

@Boklam I disagree heavily. Would we have access to top quality research from around the world? No. Would we have been able to get a mRNA and subsequently other vaccines ready so quick? Would we have mass co-ordination efforts to allocate hospital resources and supplies? I don't thinks so. As you say, the pandemic would've looked like the Spanish Flu, and very deadly. Sure, the lockdowns wouldn't have happened the way they happened, but how is more death not bad for mental health and how does that kind of global (remember, aviation exists between countries before the internet) pandemic and fear not create a huge negative impact?

@firstuserhere let's not forget that death isn't the only metric - many people who didn't die but suffered from COVID had a pretty bad experience too.

@Boklam Your prediction conflicts with what actually happened during the Spanish Flu.

"The NPIs implemented in U.S. cities included social distancing measures such as the closure of schools, theaters, and churches, and the banning of mass gatherings, such as parades, public funerals, and meetings of political parties and unions. NPIs also included other measures such as mandated mask-wearing, case isolation, making influenza a notifiable disease, and public disinfection/hygiene measures. Measures in 1918 were not as extensive as measures used to combat COVID-19 in terms of closing non-essential businesses. For instance, rather than closing businesses altogether, in many cities staggered business hours were introduced to avoid crowding in public transportation. Some cities did, however, close libraries, colleges, clubs, saloons, dance halls, pool halls, bowling alleys, movie theaters, skating rinks, and other places of public amusement." - Pandemics Depress the Economy, Public Health Interventions Do Not: Evidence from the 1918 Flu, S. Correia et al, 2022.

@Sophia oh this is very interesting! Did not know that

@JamesDGamer Yeah the internet alone isn't harmful but the way we use it could be that's what I meant