I understand the reaction to this maybe-slightly-over-simplistic statement, but there's definitely a conversation to be had about defanging at least the most the toxic effects of social media. Unfortunately we're still in the "gold rush" era of social media, societal health be damned.

Perverse incentives, indeed.

Sounds pretty authoritarian...but still I cringe to see this downvoted. Perhaps "Educate about the dangers of social media, and promote health, responsible, reverent use, because the kids are gonna do it either way"...

Browse HN threads on any other topic like guns, tobacco, or energy/climate change, and read multitude of harsher, simplistic responses to what are really tough challenges.

But watch the mellow language, the "nuanced response", the "it's a complicated problem" when it comes down to the holy cows.

I think it's fair to say HN is pretty pro-regulation. Strongly regulate social media, or ban it altogether. It's literally killing people, ruining relationships, perverting elections. It's a net negative by objective metrics.

No half assed hypocritical solutions.

Why not expect parents to do their jobs? Don’t let teens use social media. Stop dictating what adults do though.

I'd like that, but also been observing that only very specific topics trigger the stop telling me what to do.