Don't ban teenagers from social media(economist.com)
economist.com
Don't ban teenagers from social media
https://www.economist.com/leaders/2026/02/12/dont-ban-teenagers-from-social-media
4 comments
I got myspace at 15, facebook soon after. It was another way to communicate with friends. Today with the ads and shorts its more of a time sink than it was back then IMO.
I say do it. We need a revival of hacker culture, and this sounds like a way to make it happen.
The platforms would be VERY concerned. A ban clearly interrupts their revenue streams.
In the old days, you were able to curate your own feed, set that to be the default, and see posts in chronological order.
Now, there are tons of barriers against doing that. "For you" feeds, and even where you can set things up to see posts from only your friends/following list, you don't see things in chronological order, whether you want to or not.
Platforms shouldn't have the right to shove content in front of you and prevent you from curating your own social media. That's what makes it harmful for kids. Not the fact that it's "social media".