You’re arguing a strawman. This is like when someone has an opinion against war and the war hawks ask, “Why do you hate America?” I don’t think there’s any equivalence between tobacco products and social media. I personally use social media to stay connected with family and some college friends. Do some people have a toxic relationship with social media and pretend to be the Jones’? Absolutely. Some people also have an unhealthy relationship with food. Should we prevent McDonalds from selling happy meals? Should we prevent companies from selling sugary cereals?

Do you think cigarettes and Instagram are comparable products?

Yes, in the sense that they are both products that should not be marketed to kids.

Your basis for claiming that these products are comparable seems to be an entirely arbitrary opinion of yours. If you think Instagram is harmful then feel free to do some parenting and keep your own children away from it. But if you think that Instagram and cigarettes are comparably harmful, then you have an incredibly niche opinion that you shouldn’t expect anybody else to give much consideration to.

I agree with his opinion. The analogy holds quite well if you don't try to stretch it. Both products are attractive to kids, in different ways, but ultimately harm them - also in different ways. Nonetheless, they are comparable in this regard.

In that same sense cigarettes and bicycles are comparably harmful. Both products are attractive to kids, in different ways, but ultimately harm them - also in different ways.

As a parent, it’s your responsibility to choose what risks your children are exposed to. The basis of the comparison is that use of either product entails a certain level of risk, just as every single thing you can possibly do entails a certain level of risk. However the risks associated with each of those products are not comparable at all, and neither is the reward side of the equation.

There is an established consensus that cigarettes are bad for kids. Sure, parents should keep parenting, but it’s acceptable to create messaging that Instagram is bad for children. It’s a public health issue.

No one is creating messaging that bicycles are bad for kids. There are safety guidelines for using bicycles.

There is no need for safety guidelines for cigarettes or Instagram for children, because there’s no benefit for children to use those things.

> It’s a public health issue.

It’s really just a parenting issue.

> There is no need for safety guidelines for cigarettes or Instagram for children, because there’s no benefit for children to use those things.

It’s a social tool, there’s plenty of risk for harm with any form of socialization, especially with children. There’s also plenty of benefit for children to have with socialization, so your comments here just seem very obviously wrong to me.

If you’re a parent you may find those risks to be unacceptable. Especially if you’re a parent who relies on other parties to do most of your parenting for you. But all the arguments put forward here just make the claim that there’s a risk for harm, and as such instagram must be comparably harmful to cigarettes. This is simply an anti-rational argument. It’s a risk decision, just like all the other risk decisions parents make for their children.

It is comparably harmful to cigarettes. It is not for children.

Instagram is not a social tool. Instagram is a commercial marketing tool where the users are the product being sold, at the whims of the latest behavioral psychology tactics. It is thinly veiled as a social tool.

This is not comparable to typical socialization in children.

Bicycles aren't "ultimately harmful". The risk of Instagram and cigarettes causing permanent, irreversible damage is very high. Also, neither offers any health benefits.

Bicycles are fitness toys that do not harm the user directly, unlike cigarettes and instagram.

Of course they do. Children hurt themselves all the time on bicycles.

Children also hurt themselves running. That's not the same thing as a product that is designed to cause harm.

Social media is not intentionally designed to cause harm. It simply has the potential to cause harm.

>Social media is not intentionally designed to cause harm

Disagree 110%.

It’s not a niche opinion that Instagram is considered harmful for a person’s health. Products that are considered harmful to health need extra scrutiny when children are involved.

Cigarettes destroy your mouth, lungs, and cause cancer. And they’re so bad we passed laws that you cannot sell them to minors. I’m no fan of Instagram, but if you don’t want your kid on social media, don’t let them go on social media. Should we also ban porn sites, Internet forums? Since search engines can be used to find inappropriate websites or set the wrong expectation about body image, sex, etc - should that all be banned?

I don’t care for social media but I certainly can’t get behind all this unnecessary cancel culture.