Welcome to today\u2019s edition of \u201cPaul asks you to hold the follow thoughts simultaneously, despite their being in tension.\u201d<\/p>
1. Social media in its popular form is socially toxic and psychologically dangerous \u2014 probably for everyone, certainly for children and adolescents. The evidence on this is compelling, and in my view is not just moral panic reified as research. It\u2019s probably a bad idea for kids \/ teens to be using it. (And again\u2026maybe all of us.)<\/p>","url":"https:\/\/hachyderm.io\/@inthehands\/116393851712933587","status_net":{"notice_id":null}},"to":[{"objectType":"http:\/\/activitystrea.ms\/schema\/1.0\/collection","id":"http:\/\/activityschema.org\/collection\/public"}],"status_net":{"conversation":"tag:gnusocial.jp,2026-04-12:objectType=thread:nonce=367d118cccb37bd4","notice_info":{"local_id":"12443306","source":"ActivityPub","repeat_of":"12441037"}},"published":"2026-04-13T10:06:23+00:00","provider":{"objectType":"service","displayName":"GNU social JP","url":"https:\/\/gnusocial.jp\/"},"title":"GreenSkyOverMe repeated a notice by inthehands","verb":"share","url":"https:\/\/ohai.social\/users\/GreenSkyOverMe\/statuses\/116396836888385462\/activity"},{"actor":{"id":"https:\/\/hachyderm.io\/users\/benjamineskola","displayName":"ben","status_net":{"avatarLinks":[{"url":"https:\/\/gnusocial.jp\/avatar\/111168-original-tmp20230405173607.webp","rel":"avatar","type":"image\/webp","width":400,"height":400},{"url":"https:\/\/gnusocial.jp\/avatar\/111168-96-20230405173607.webp","rel":"avatar","type":"image\/webp","width":96,"height":96},{"url":"https:\/\/gnusocial.jp\/avatar\/111168-48-20230405173607.webp","rel":"avatar","type":"image\/webp","width":48,"height":48},{"url":"https:\/\/gnusocial.jp\/avatar\/111168-24-20230405173607.webp","rel":"avatar","type":"image\/webp","width":24,"height":24}],"profile_info":{"local_id":"111168"}},"image":{"url":"https:\/\/gnusocial.jp\/avatar\/111168-96-20230405173607.webp","rel":"avatar","type":"image\/webp","width":96,"height":96},"objectType":"person","summary":"Software engineer, socialist.","url":"https:\/\/hachyderm.io\/@benjamineskola","portablecontacts_net":{"preferredUsername":"benjamineskola","displayName":"ben","note":"Software engineer, socialist."}},"content":"
@inthehands<\/a> There was an article in the Guardian a few weeks back \u2014 an anonymous teenage girl talking about online misogyny and concluding that a social media ban would help. And what struck me was that yeah, it\u2019s a real problem, but framing it as \u2018about teenagers\u2019 seems completely mistaken.<\/p> (Are we expected to think that misogynistic content is okay as long as directed only at over-16s?)<\/p>","generator":{"id":"tag:gnusocial.jp,2026-08-14:notice-source:ActivityPub","objectType":"application","status_net":{"source_code":"ActivityPub"}},"id":"https:\/\/hachyderm.io\/users\/benjamineskola\/statuses\/116396613441355500","object":{"id":"https:\/\/hachyderm.io\/users\/benjamineskola\/statuses\/116396613441355500","objectType":"note","content":" @inthehands<\/a> There was an article in the Guardian a few weeks back \u2014 an anonymous teenage girl talking about online misogyny and concluding that a social media ban would help. And what struck me was that yeah, it\u2019s a real problem, but framing it as \u2018about teenagers\u2019 seems completely mistaken.<\/p> (Are we expected to think that misogynistic content is okay as long as directed only at over-16s?)<\/p>","url":"https:\/\/hachyderm.io\/@benjamineskola\/116396613441355500","status_net":{"notice_id":null},"inReplyTo":{"objectType":"note","id":"https:\/\/hachyderm.io\/users\/inthehands\/statuses\/116393851712933587","url":"https:\/\/hachyderm.io\/@inthehands\/116393851712933587"}},"to":[{"objectType":"http:\/\/activitystrea.ms\/schema\/1.0\/person","id":"https:\/\/hachyderm.io\/users\/inthehands"},{"objectType":"http:\/\/activitystrea.ms\/schema\/1.0\/collection","id":"http:\/\/activityschema.org\/collection\/public"}],"status_net":{"conversation":"tag:gnusocial.jp,2026-04-12:objectType=thread:nonce=367d118cccb37bd4","notice_info":{"local_id":"12443171","source":"ActivityPub"}},"published":"2026-04-13T09:09:59+00:00","provider":{"objectType":"service","displayName":"GNU social JP","url":"https:\/\/gnusocial.jp\/"},"verb":"post","url":"https:\/\/hachyderm.io\/@benjamineskola\/116396613441355500"},{"actor":{"id":"https:\/\/hachyderm.io\/users\/maya_b","displayName":"maya_b","status_net":{"avatarLinks":[{"url":"https:\/\/gnusocial.jp\/avatar\/159970-original-tmp20230923165610.webp","rel":"avatar","type":"image\/webp","width":400,"height":400},{"url":"https:\/\/gnusocial.jp\/avatar\/159970-96-20230925202139.webp","rel":"avatar","type":"image\/webp","width":96,"height":96},{"url":"https:\/\/gnusocial.jp\/avatar\/159970-48-20230925202139.webp","rel":"avatar","type":"image\/webp","width":48,"height":48},{"url":"https:\/\/gnusocial.jp\/avatar\/159970-24-20230925202139.webp","rel":"avatar","type":"image\/webp","width":24,"height":24}],"profile_info":{"local_id":"159970"}},"image":{"url":"https:\/\/gnusocial.jp\/avatar\/159970-96-20230925202139.webp","rel":"avatar","type":"image\/webp","width":96,"height":96},"objectType":"person","summary":"hardware\/firmware\/embedded-systems designer\/engineer\/consultantI seem to boost far more than I post. I should do something about that.","url":"https:\/\/hachyderm.io\/@maya_b","portablecontacts_net":{"preferredUsername":"maya_b","displayName":"maya_b","note":"hardware\/firmware\/embedded-systems designer\/engineer\/consultantI seem to boost far more than I post. I should do something about that."}},"content":" @inthehands<\/a> <\/p> absolutely.<\/p>","generator":{"id":"tag:gnusocial.jp,2026-08-14:notice-source:ActivityPub","objectType":"application","status_net":{"source_code":"ActivityPub"}},"id":"https:\/\/hachyderm.io\/users\/maya_b\/statuses\/116394057374676797","object":{"id":"https:\/\/hachyderm.io\/users\/maya_b\/statuses\/116394057374676797","objectType":"note","content":" @inthehands<\/a> <\/p> absolutely.<\/p>","url":"https:\/\/hachyderm.io\/@maya_b\/116394057374676797","status_net":{"notice_id":null},"inReplyTo":{"objectType":"note","id":"https:\/\/hachyderm.io\/users\/inthehands\/statuses\/116393968289508556","url":"https:\/\/hachyderm.io\/@inthehands\/116393968289508556"}},"to":[{"objectType":"http:\/\/activitystrea.ms\/schema\/1.0\/person","id":"https:\/\/hachyderm.io\/users\/inthehands"},{"objectType":"http:\/\/activitystrea.ms\/schema\/1.0\/collection","id":"http:\/\/activityschema.org\/collection\/public"}],"status_net":{"conversation":"tag:gnusocial.jp,2026-04-12:objectType=thread:nonce=367d118cccb37bd4","notice_info":{"local_id":"12442968","source":"ActivityPub"}},"published":"2026-04-13T08:02:33+00:00","provider":{"objectType":"service","displayName":"GNU social JP","url":"https:\/\/gnusocial.jp\/"},"verb":"post","url":"https:\/\/hachyderm.io\/@maya_b\/116394057374676797"},{"actor":{"id":"https:\/\/hachyderm.io\/users\/inthehands","displayName":"Paul Cantrell","status_net":{"avatarLinks":[{"url":"https:\/\/gnusocial.jp\/avatar\/53259-original-tmp20231130153900.webp","rel":"avatar","type":"image\/webp","width":400,"height":400},{"url":"https:\/\/gnusocial.jp\/avatar\/53259-96-20231130154634.webp","rel":"avatar","type":"image\/webp","width":96,"height":96},{"url":"https:\/\/gnusocial.jp\/avatar\/53259-48-20231130154634.webp","rel":"avatar","type":"image\/webp","width":48,"height":48},{"url":"https:\/\/gnusocial.jp\/avatar\/53259-24-20231130154634.webp","rel":"avatar","type":"image\/webp","width":24,"height":24}],"profile_info":{"local_id":"53259"}},"image":{"url":"https:\/\/gnusocial.jp\/avatar\/53259-96-20231130154634.webp","rel":"avatar","type":"image\/webp","width":96,"height":96},"objectType":"person","summary":"Composer, pianist, programmer, professor, rabble rouser, redheadComputer Science at https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/mscs\/(Student projects: https:\/\/devgarden.macalester.edu)Artistic Director of https:\/\/newruckus.orgFreelance dev, often with https:\/\/bustout.comMusical troublemaker https:\/\/innig.net\/music\/The heart is the toughest part of the body.Tenderness is in the hands.\u00a0\u2014 Carolyn Forch\u00e9searchable","url":"https:\/\/hachyderm.io\/@inthehands","portablecontacts_net":{"preferredUsername":"inthehands","displayName":"Paul Cantrell","note":"Composer, pianist, programmer, professor, rabble rouser, redheadComputer Science at https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/mscs\/(Student projects: https:\/\/devgarden.macalester.edu)Artistic Director of https:\/\/newruckus.orgFreelance dev, often with https:\/\/bustout.comMusical troublemaker https:\/\/innig.net\/music\/The heart is the toughest part of the body.Tenderness is in the hands.\u00a0\u2014 Carolyn Forch\u00e9searchable"}},"content":" 2. This danger \/ toxicity is not a necessary, intrinsic property of social media; it happened by \u2022design\u2022. Social interaction doesn\u2019t suddenly become a new kind of psychologically toxic just because it happens on a screen. That happens when huge amounts of investment money pour into exploiting the human vulnerability of humans, weaponing our own psychology to turn our social needs into a money pump, sucking us dry for profit. It\u2019s a business model in the same category as casinos and diet pills. \u201cScreen time\u201d is a misleading concept. Let\u2019s talk about \u201cbillionaires manipulate your brain\u201d time.<\/p>","generator":{"id":"tag:gnusocial.jp,2026-08-14:notice-source:ActivityPub","objectType":"application","status_net":{"source_code":"ActivityPub"}},"id":"https:\/\/hachyderm.io\/users\/inthehands\/statuses\/116393868634532463","object":{"id":"https:\/\/hachyderm.io\/users\/inthehands\/statuses\/116393868634532463","objectType":"note","content":" 2. This danger \/ toxicity is not a necessary, intrinsic property of social media; it happened by \u2022design\u2022. Social interaction doesn\u2019t suddenly become a new kind of psychologically toxic just because it happens on a screen. That happens when huge amounts of investment money pour into exploiting the human vulnerability of humans, weaponing our own psychology to turn our social needs into a money pump, sucking us dry for profit. It\u2019s a business model in the same category as casinos and diet pills. \u201cScreen time\u201d is a misleading concept. Let\u2019s talk about \u201cbillionaires manipulate your brain\u201d time.<\/p>","url":"https:\/\/hachyderm.io\/@inthehands\/116393868634532463","status_net":{"notice_id":null},"inReplyTo":{"objectType":"note","id":"https:\/\/hachyderm.io\/users\/inthehands\/statuses\/116393851712933587","url":"https:\/\/hachyderm.io\/@inthehands\/116393851712933587"}},"to":[{"objectType":"http:\/\/activitystrea.ms\/schema\/1.0\/collection","id":"http:\/\/activityschema.org\/collection\/public"}],"status_net":{"conversation":"tag:gnusocial.jp,2026-04-12:objectType=thread:nonce=367d118cccb37bd4","notice_info":{"local_id":"12441487","source":"ActivityPub"}},"published":"2026-04-12T23:10:38+00:00","provider":{"objectType":"service","displayName":"GNU social JP","url":"https:\/\/gnusocial.jp\/"},"verb":"post","url":"https:\/\/hachyderm.io\/@inthehands\/116393868634532463"},{"actor":{"id":"https:\/\/hachyderm.io\/users\/inthehands","displayName":"Paul Cantrell","status_net":{"avatarLinks":[{"url":"https:\/\/gnusocial.jp\/avatar\/53259-original-tmp20231130153900.webp","rel":"avatar","type":"image\/webp","width":400,"height":400},{"url":"https:\/\/gnusocial.jp\/avatar\/53259-96-20231130154634.webp","rel":"avatar","type":"image\/webp","width":96,"height":96},{"url":"https:\/\/gnusocial.jp\/avatar\/53259-48-20231130154634.webp","rel":"avatar","type":"image\/webp","width":48,"height":48},{"url":"https:\/\/gnusocial.jp\/avatar\/53259-24-20231130154634.webp","rel":"avatar","type":"image\/webp","width":24,"height":24}],"profile_info":{"local_id":"53259"}},"image":{"url":"https:\/\/gnusocial.jp\/avatar\/53259-96-20231130154634.webp","rel":"avatar","type":"image\/webp","width":96,"height":96},"objectType":"person","summary":"Composer, pianist, programmer, professor, rabble rouser, redheadComputer Science at https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/mscs\/(Student projects: https:\/\/devgarden.macalester.edu)Artistic Director of https:\/\/newruckus.orgFreelance dev, often with https:\/\/bustout.comMusical troublemaker https:\/\/innig.net\/music\/The heart is the toughest part of the body.Tenderness is in the hands.\u00a0\u2014 Carolyn Forch\u00e9searchable","url":"https:\/\/hachyderm.io\/@inthehands","portablecontacts_net":{"preferredUsername":"inthehands","displayName":"Paul Cantrell","note":"Composer, pianist, programmer, professor, rabble rouser, redheadComputer Science at https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/mscs\/(Student projects: https:\/\/devgarden.macalester.edu)Artistic Director of https:\/\/newruckus.orgFreelance dev, often with https:\/\/bustout.comMusical troublemaker https:\/\/innig.net\/music\/The heart is the toughest part of the body.Tenderness is in the hands.\u00a0\u2014 Carolyn Forch\u00e9searchable"}},"content":" @maya_b<\/a> @maya_b<\/a>
There are some solid enough cognitive development arguments to make about age-based guidance for a variety of things, but\u2026yeah, there\u2019s no magic line, and age-gating is certainly not a solution to my item 2, which I think is the real heart of so much of the problem.<\/p>","generator":{"id":"tag:gnusocial.jp,2026-08-14:notice-source:ActivityPub","objectType":"application","status_net":{"source_code":"ActivityPub"}},"id":"https:\/\/hachyderm.io\/users\/inthehands\/statuses\/116393968289508556","object":{"id":"https:\/\/hachyderm.io\/users\/inthehands\/statuses\/116393968289508556","objectType":"note","content":"
There are some solid enough cognitive development arguments to make about age-based guidance for a variety of things, but\u2026yeah, there\u2019s no magic line, and age-gating is certainly not a solution to my item 2, which I think is the real heart of so much of the problem.<\/p>","url":"https:\/\/hachyderm.io\/@inthehands\/116393968289508556","status_net":{"notice_id":null},"inReplyTo":{"objectType":"note","id":"https:\/\/hachyderm.io\/users\/maya_b\/statuses\/116393954605628678","url":"https:\/\/hachyderm.io\/@maya_b\/116393954605628678"}},"to":[{"objectType":"http:\/\/activitystrea.ms\/schema\/1.0\/person","id":"https:\/\/hachyderm.io\/users\/maya_b"},{"objectType":"http:\/\/activitystrea.ms\/schema\/1.0\/collection","id":"http:\/\/activityschema.org\/collection\/public"}],"status_net":{"conversation":"tag:gnusocial.jp,2026-04-12:objectType=thread:nonce=367d118cccb37bd4","notice_info":{"local_id":"12441218","source":"ActivityPub"}},"published":"2026-04-12T22:07:13+00:00","provider":{"objectType":"service","displayName":"GNU social JP","url":"https:\/\/gnusocial.jp\/"},"verb":"post","url":"https:\/\/hachyderm.io\/@inthehands\/116393968289508556"},{"actor":{"id":"https:\/\/hachyderm.io\/users\/maya_b","displayName":"maya_b","status_net":{"avatarLinks":[{"url":"https:\/\/gnusocial.jp\/avatar\/159970-original-tmp20230923165610.webp","rel":"avatar","type":"image\/webp","width":400,"height":400},{"url":"https:\/\/gnusocial.jp\/avatar\/159970-96-20230925202139.webp","rel":"avatar","type":"image\/webp","width":96,"height":96},{"url":"https:\/\/gnusocial.jp\/avatar\/159970-48-20230925202139.webp","rel":"avatar","type":"image\/webp","width":48,"height":48},{"url":"https:\/\/gnusocial.jp\/avatar\/159970-24-20230925202139.webp","rel":"avatar","type":"image\/webp","width":24,"height":24}],"profile_info":{"local_id":"159970"}},"image":{"url":"https:\/\/gnusocial.jp\/avatar\/159970-96-20230925202139.webp","rel":"avatar","type":"image\/webp","width":96,"height":96},"objectType":"person","summary":"hardware\/firmware\/embedded-systems designer\/engineer\/consultantI seem to boost far more than I post. I should do something about that.","url":"https:\/\/hachyderm.io\/@maya_b","portablecontacts_net":{"preferredUsername":"maya_b","displayName":"maya_b","note":"hardware\/firmware\/embedded-systems designer\/engineer\/consultantI seem to boost far more than I post. I should do something about that."}},"content":"