• Re: A major lawsuit on social media addictio

    From Rug Rat@1:135/250 to All on Tue Feb 10 19:58:10 2026
    Not surprising that the lawsuit is coming out of California.

    I am trying to find any reference to lawsuits from the past claiming the same thing about Television and Cable, and the search engines keep redirecting me here.

    Besides targeted content and advertising, what could be the basis to claim that social media is more addicting to the television that we had growing up?

    What about META and Youtubes claims that it is failed parenting that has lead to their childs over indulgence in their products?
    - Certainly unless we were sick, there were always limmits on when and for how long we could watch TV...

    (At least until I found out I could connect the VCR to the Commodore 1702 in my bedroom...)..

    Today, devices (Phone, tablets, computers) have sophisticated parental controls to limmit or block access to apps, sites, etc. The only problem is parents now have to deal with the blowback.

    Third, if it gets as far as damages... How much harm do you think the two companies mentioned in the lawsuit are causing children?

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  • From Mike Powell@1:2320/105 to RUG RAT on Wed Feb 11 10:07:42 2026
    Besides targeted content and advertising, what could be the basis to claim tha
    social media is more addicting to the television that we had growing up?

    There have been some psychological findings regarding "clicks/likes" and dopamine that you don't get from TV.

    What about META and Youtubes claims that it is failed parenting that has lead to their childs over indulgence in their products?
    - Certainly unless we were sick, there were always limmits on when and for how long we could watch TV...

    I tend to agree with the companies here. A lot of this could be avoided if parents controled screen time like ours used to control TV watching, video gaming, etc. The trend with a lot of parents these days is to hand their
    kid a phone or tablet to keep them occupied which, IMHO, is not good.

    Today, devices (Phone, tablets, computers) have sophisticated parental control
    to limmit or block access to apps, sites, etc. The only problem is parents no
    have to deal with the blowback.

    A lot of parents don't like to "deal" and let Junior have the phone/tablet.
    Their fault, not the companies', although the companies know this and I
    don't doubt use it to their advantage.

    Third, if it gets as far as damages... How much harm do you think the two companies mentioned in the lawsuit are causing children?

    I do think these companies know there are harmful aspects of their
    products. There have been a couple of documentary series that I am aware
    of (one on PBS and the other on some other cable station) that tracked
    people (high school age in many cases) and their usage habits, and that documented issues with social media in general on people of all ages.

    It is sort of like smoking, IMHO. The point where they learned it was bad
    for you came long before I was born... and that includes consumers knowing.
    However, that didn't stop the cigarette companies from trying to hide/mask these facts with their big advertising budgets long after I was born.

    In that instance, yes I think the consumers were partially to blame. I
    also think the companies knowning what they knew and still using
    manipulative techniques still puts blame on them also.

    Mike

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  • From Rob Mccart@1:2320/105 to MIKE POWELL on Fri Feb 13 08:05:30 2026
    >> What about META and Youtubes claims that it is failed parenting that has le
    >> to their childs over indulgence in their products?
    >> - Certainly unless we were sick, there were always limmits on when and fo
    >> how long we could watch TV...

    I tend to agree with the companies here. A lot of this could be avoided if
    >parents controled screen time like ours used to control TV watching, video
    >gaming, etc. The trend with a lot of parents these days is to hand their
    >kid a phone or tablet to keep them occupied which, IMHO, is not good.

    It's the same as in the past when a lot of people used the television
    as a babysitter while they worked. As you suggested, the better parents
    limited it rather than relying on it for that.

    My Niece's kids would be on their Tablets just about all waking
    hours if they were not forced to do other things. I was always
    amazed when they were up here at the cottage on warm sunny days
    and laying on a bed or a couch inside for hours on end playing on
    their Tablets, and they've been doing this since they were too
    young to read..

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  • From Mike Powell@1:2320/105 to ROB MCCART on Fri Feb 13 10:10:22 2026
    It's the same as in the past when a lot of people used the television
    as a babysitter while they worked. As you suggested, the better parents limited it rather than relying on it for that.

    The differences between the TV and a tablet or phone is that the TV wasn't socially interactive and you had at least some idea of what they were watching... you could hear it and, unless you had something > basic cable,
    you had at least some assurance they were not watching something they shouldn't.

    We only had antenna so our choices of finding trouble on TV were limited. ;)

    My Niece's kids would be on their Tablets just about all waking
    hours if they were not forced to do other things. I was always
    amazed when they were up here at the cottage on warm sunny days
    and laying on a bed or a couch inside for hours on end playing on
    their Tablets, and they've been doing this since they were too
    young to read..

    I have told this story before but you could sit one of my ex-g/f's kids
    down with a tablet playing some children's video on youtube and she knew
    what suggestions to click to switch it to rap music (with uncensored
    lyrics) within 3 or 4 clicks. She was 4-5 years old.

    I have a niece who plays roblox, which is a game where they have caught
    adults trying to have private chats with minors. Not sure she still plays
    it now.

    Mike


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  • From Kurt Weiske@1:218/700 to Rob Mccart on Fri Feb 13 11:46:54 2026
    Rob Mccart wrote to MIKE POWELL <=-

    My Niece's kids would be on their Tablets just about all waking
    hours if they were not forced to do other things. I was always
    amazed when they were up here at the cottage on warm sunny days
    and laying on a bed or a couch inside for hours on end playing on
    their Tablets, and they've been doing this since they were too
    young to read..

    We're heading to my cabin this weekend, and one of the features,
    besides being up in the mountains, is that we have no internet service.
    Just a land line.

    Through some weird phenomenon, we get cell phone service for a
    half-hour or so in mid-morning - we'll hear all of the phones chiming
    as they receive pending notifications - just enough time to check text
    messages.

    We're not that far out, drive a mile and you get 5 bars - but it's nice
    to be intentionally out of service at the cabin.





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  • From Rob Mccart@1:2320/105 to MIKE POWELL on Sun Feb 15 08:03:12 2026
    My Niece's kids would be on their Tablets just about all waking
    >> hours if they were not forced to do other things.

    I have told this story before but you could sit one of my ex-g/f's kids
    >down with a tablet playing some children's video on youtube and she knew
    >what suggestions to click to switch it to rap music (with uncensored
    >lyrics) within 3 or 4 clicks. She was 4-5 years old.

    I have a niece who plays roblox, which is a game where they have caught
    >adults trying to have private chats with minors. Not sure she still plays
    >it now.

    Yes, that's a worry probably with all games that support private chat.
    I'd certainly try to have them playing games that were just on their
    Tablet, not online live with other people, at least not unsupervised.

    I know My Niece's kids can play against each other Tablet to Tablet
    which gives them that live action sort of thing and at least that's
    safer than being online with who knows who..

    That said, her daughter at about age 7 figured out how to order
    new games online and charge them to dad's credit card so I suppose
    in most cases they know more than the parents realize.. B)

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  • From Rob Mccart@1:2320/105 to KURT WEISKE on Sun Feb 15 08:03:12 2026
    We're heading to my cabin this weekend, and one of the features,
    > besides being up in the mountains, is that we have no internet service.
    > Just a land line.

    Through some weird phenomenon, we get cell phone service for a
    > half-hour or so in mid-morning - we'll hear all of the phones chiming
    > as they receive pending notifications - just enough time to check text
    > messages.

    We're not that far out, drive a mile and you get 5 bars - but it's nice
    > to be intentionally out of service at the cabin.

    Ha, yes.. A true vacation.. B)

    For ages here we had to walk a couple of hundred feet to the top of
    a bit of a hill to use cell phones, but eventually they upgraded the
    service and we get fairly good reception now.

    I use a cell phone for all my data. I'm miles from the nearest Bell
    box and it's so old it can barely handle standard land line service,
    forget anything like cable or Fiber Optics. If we want exceptional
    Internet here we need to go to Satellite dishes..

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  • From Mike Powell@1:2320/105 to ROB MCCART on Sun Feb 15 10:21:44 2026
    Yes, that's a worry probably with all games that support private chat.
    I'd certainly try to have them playing games that were just on their
    Tablet, not online live with other people, at least not unsupervised.

    I know My Niece's kids can play against each other Tablet to Tablet
    which gives them that live action sort of thing and at least that's
    safer than being online with who knows who..

    It is good that they have figured that out. It gives them someone known to play with.

    That said, her daughter at about age 7 figured out how to order
    new games online and charge them to dad's credit card so I suppose
    in most cases they know more than the parents realize.. B)

    I think that is where the danger lies... kids pick up on that stuff faster
    than their parents do in many cases.

    Mike

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