I don't know, but I bit the bullet and joined TikTok a year or so ago in spite of all of my privacy-protecting practices I do for most things (uMatrix in Firefox, my always-on VPN, etc) just to see what had people so absorbed and/or alarmed about it.
And I have to say that I'm terrified of it. I hate how alarmist and dramatic that is, but the utter falsehoods and vitriol that seems to go viral on there is just evil. I hate that a bunch of middle school children might be exposed to so much propaganda. From political messages to anti-vax fake science to "did you know?"-style rewriting of history, it's just awful. And so much of it is spread/re-shared by young, hip, people that kids will identify with as cool and/or trustworthy.
And there's no real way to actually engage with any idea. Not only are the videos extremely short--way too short to actually make any legitimate points or arguments about a complex topic--but even the text replies are Twitter-style and only allow some handful of characters, so again, it's basically impossible to even refute any of these ridiculous falsehoods. The only possible discourse is to insult each other or share vacuous slogans, memes, and truisms.
I know conspiracy theories and lies have always existed, and of course I realize that we were all taught history with some bias, etc. But the speed with which this stuff spreads is incredible. My partner has an 11 year old who was on TikTok and I was CONSTANTLY needing to correct him (gently, of course) when he would share a "fact" he "learned". A recent one was that the T-Rex skeleton's arms as we know them are actually backwards, and that "we" now know that they were more like little chicken wings. This was, of course, a fairly benign example, but I've had to correct him (with evidence) on other topics that make me much more concerned. Luckily, he's not on TikTok anymore.
I understand the concern, but is it that different from early 90s internet spread of drugs made of bananas or even before that urban legends? I know that it is easier to ban stuff than teach critical thinking skills, but I genuinely think the latter is preferable long term.
In my defense, my kid is still too young to engage in this stuff so that might be the reason I am less alarmed. I hate to say it, but my parents did a fair amount of watching with us and they tried to put things in context ( I still remember my dad scolding me after I repeated blatant propaganda line I heard on the news ).
The time you spend correcting your kid is not wasted.
> I understand the concern, but is it that different from early 90s internet spread of drugs made of bananas or even before that urban legends?
Well, yes. In the 90s, the speed at which I could acquire stupid ideas from the internet was still VASTLY slower than today. First, I had to actually get home from school and sit in front of a computer because I didn't have an internet-connected device in my pocket at all times. This meant that I couldn't be absorbing nonsense during car rides or dinner time, either. Then, I had to make sure that my family members weren't using the telephone. And while there were lots of questionable forum-style websites, there wasn't like a single-digit number of hubs online where everyone got the same nonsense info at the same time, or where someone who produces said nonsense would know to go to maximize their reach.
I would say that information moves much faster today than it has even when Facebook unseated MySpace (which was well after the 90s).
> I know that it is easier to ban stuff than teach critical thinking skills, but I genuinely think the latter is preferable long term.
Sure, and I didn't suggest otherwise. Education is the most important and resilient way to combat all kinds of terrible ideas. However, the concern I expressed in my comment was specifically about children. Children can't be educated almost by definition- it takes time to become educated and well-versed in basic logic and reasoning. I'm fortunate that my step-son found this information "interesting" enough to share with us so that I had the opportunity to explain to him that the vast majority of content being shared with him is from non-experts or people who are actively trying to manipulate people into agreeing with them on something. Did he take that to heart? Not really; because it happened multiple times and I had roughly the same conversation with him multiple times. He's not there yet in his education.
And then there's the other issue of the adults that are consuming and spreading nonsense at record speed. And a lot of that nonsense is currently aiming to turn people AGAINST science and education. "Those damn academics are lying to us!", "Don't trust your kids around teachers- they're 'groomers'!", etc.
I don't know what the answer is, but I don't feel good about the future for our kids.
<<because I didn't have an internet-connected device in my pocket at all times.
The worst part is that I almost completely agree with you, because I am almost certain I will be facing similar hurdles. That said, if the issue is the internet connected device, isn't an instant 'fix' to replace said device with one with no access and then take school to task to enforce similar ban ( the most common objections I heard was:'i need to be able to reach my kid in case of emergency'; dumb phones still exist so that could work?
Urban legends were spread by word of mouth, like Marilyn Manson removing two ribs so he could self-fellate.
We'd hear it from 'that guy' at school, laugh and get on with our day. TikTok is that guy today, and unlike the '90s, he lives in your pocket and can deliver other such interesting tidbits on a variety of topics, 24 hours a day.
So urban legends are more accessible now. It only adds more of a responsibility on parents to either spend time with their kids and put TikTok vids in context or just let them be exposed to all the garbage out there.
It is not that different from the TV panic. There are differences, but similarities are striking.
This may be where ( and why ) we differ. I do not consider FCC to be, well, useful. It was not useful during Carlin's words you can't say on TV. It is certainly even less useful now.
I am confused. Are you arguing for social media government oversight?
And while yes, there were plenty of bullshit urban legends and propaganda pieces (generally from ones own government) out there, 'plenty' was still a rather limited number.
I'm not sure how old your kid is, but once they reach the age of infinite recursion 'why' loops you'll quickly learn that you don't have the time and energy to fend off the firehose of falsehood and will succumb to the bullshit asymmetry principle and realize that the internet can feed your kid crap much faster than you can even reply to if you don't moderate their access.
I honestly have no good answer here. Mind is a terrible thing to waste and I do not want those to fall through the cracks just because parents are idiots. Natural response is to put limits on what parents can do. Here is the problem though. Some people would likely disagree with what I would want to instill in my child. Since that is the case, I accept that parent's freedom will sometimes yield results that are suboptimal ( wasted child's potential ).
Beyond that.. what can we do? I would not mind effectively forcing 230 to make all platforms define themselves as publishers or not. Clearly, some sort of re-alignment is needed. Maybe we could force everyone to think twice before posting anything on the net?
As you can see, I do not know what the answer is. All I can do is what is best for my family.
If people continually discover that the history and science "facts" they learn from Tik-Tok are false, they will eventually develop the healthy skepticism which humans have needed for survival ever since the first lie was invented in the mists of prehistory.
And I have to say that I'm terrified of it. I hate how alarmist and dramatic that is, but the utter falsehoods and vitriol that seems to go viral on there is just evil. I hate that a bunch of middle school children might be exposed to so much propaganda. From political messages to anti-vax fake science to "did you know?"-style rewriting of history, it's just awful. And so much of it is spread/re-shared by young, hip, people that kids will identify with as cool and/or trustworthy.
And there's no real way to actually engage with any idea. Not only are the videos extremely short--way too short to actually make any legitimate points or arguments about a complex topic--but even the text replies are Twitter-style and only allow some handful of characters, so again, it's basically impossible to even refute any of these ridiculous falsehoods. The only possible discourse is to insult each other or share vacuous slogans, memes, and truisms.
I know conspiracy theories and lies have always existed, and of course I realize that we were all taught history with some bias, etc. But the speed with which this stuff spreads is incredible. My partner has an 11 year old who was on TikTok and I was CONSTANTLY needing to correct him (gently, of course) when he would share a "fact" he "learned". A recent one was that the T-Rex skeleton's arms as we know them are actually backwards, and that "we" now know that they were more like little chicken wings. This was, of course, a fairly benign example, but I've had to correct him (with evidence) on other topics that make me much more concerned. Luckily, he's not on TikTok anymore.