Aloha kākou. File this under; “If they can’t censor it, then ban it.” U.S. Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy called for placing tobacco-style warning labels on Unsocial Media to alert users that the platforms can harm to children’s and adults’ mental health. These warnings labels by the Surgeon General are targeting online platforms Fascistbook, Instagrumble, and the Chinese TikTok. Whew, thank the tech gods that X (twitter) wasn’t on the list. I would be a bloody blubbering mess by now.
Surgeon General Dr. Murthy has long complained he views unsocial media as a mental health risk. In reality, it’s only “Free Speech” to a degree. These platforms do monitor content and will remove, and ban users for abuse, threats, and whatever they perceive as “hate speech.” Pedo-Hitler Biden’s Surgeon General’s idea of a health risk is profoundly subjective to political narratives. If they don’t like your political leanings, they will remove, throttle-back, and even ban users for benign political content. It you’re against Pedo-Joe Biden’s social agenda, then you’re a mental health risk. It’s not really the platform, it’s your beliefs and political views.
In Murthy 2023 advisory on the subject, he warned that “there are ample indicators that social media can also have a profound risk of harm to the mental health and well-being of children and adolescents.” Murthy urged Congress to enact legislation requiring that social media platforms include a surgeon general’s warning to “regularly remind parents and adolescents that social media has not been proved safe.” Like tobacco warnings. Quel Dommage! Can you imagine opening Fascistbook and seeing a warning popping up on your device warning you like a pack of cigarettes? What about cigars and booze?
I do know people that shut off their devices on the weekends. From Friday evening till Monday, they leave their devices off to spend time having a mental break from unsocial media noise. This is so they can spend more time with family amid the distractions that comes with unsocial media postings. They’re the lucky ones with the resolution to avoid temptation. Me, not so much. From dawn to dusk, from my waking moments, till I close my eyes, I’m forever scrolling through my device reading and commenting on posts from several unsocial media sites. It’s an addiction, I know. But I don’t have a life anyway and it keeps me off the streets from getting into trouble. No really! I’m being cereal.
Before the internet came along, life was very different from what we know today. I often miss life before the internet. Most kids today have never known anything but the internet. Parents will give their devices to their kids and let them play games and watch videos. No need for a real babysitter anymore. There was so much time spent outside for hours. Now, all you see is people with their faces buried in their screens.
I don’t use unsocial media for sharing pictures of myself, puppy dogs and cats. I use it for information, news, and some entertainment also. Unlike those that use unsocial media for interaction with other people, family, and friends. Those whose eyes are glued to their screens watching mindless videos, I shy away from interacting with others. I prefer to read stories, and sometimes comments. I’m doing research on news stories. Collecting information locally and nationally. Gathering knowledge for my blog postings. It’s a source of lazy sadistic pleasure in a way.
There may be something to the mental health deterioration of people being on the internet for too long. The internet is a double-edged sword. There’s good and convivence on one side, and there is a very evil side to the internet. One of the reasons that I do not interact with people online is that you never know who you’re talking to. When I get Direct Messages (DM’s) from people that I don’t know, I ignore them and even block them. You just never know who these people are. With the increase in Artificial Intelligence, there are many internet bots that are just people talking to computer generated messages.
It’s like those annoying messages from automated operators when you use the phone to schedule service. “Press 1 for English, press 2 for Spanish, press 3 to hear these options again.” These phone bots are now on the internet. Faceless drones that pretend to be humans. I often wonder if the internet provides some form of companionship for people with no friends. No interactions with real people in social environments. Like having a conversation with a computer.
Imagine the computer having a mental breakdown? Sometimes people use the internet to draw attention to themselves. Take for example the Houston, Texas democrat that used the internet to send himself racist messages. Taral Patel, 30, was running for Fort Bend County Commission Precinct 3 – a local position in the outer suburbs of Houston – the registered democratic candidate running for a local office position in Texas was arrested on charges from a racist attack he allegedly staged against himself. Imagine getting arrested for sending yourself hate messages.
Imagine being so desperate to win a political office that you bring attention of racism to yourself. This political hopeful landed himself in big criminal trouble after being investigated by Texas rangers. Sources say it may be related to accusations of racism. Of course it’s related to racism. Because he’s a minority he felt he had immunity from investigation. If a Republican did this stunt, it would be covered on every cable news network 24/7. Cries of racism and public crucifixions would be called for. Our double standard of injustice would see to that.
— MAGA —
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Unsocial Media is a double-edged sword. It has a good side and a dark side. Instant communication can bring help in seconds and threats can be devastating in the long term. With the integration of AI – “Artificial Intelligence,” the conditions for disaster can be dangerous. People’s looks and voice can be easily replicated to seem convincing. Video and pictures can be manipulated. However, AI has fingerprints and can be detected with tools. But a lie can race around the world before the truth can get its pants on. And the fake news media doesn’t help either. That shoot first and ask questions later. I don’t know if legislation will be helpful. Except that politicians must act like they’re doing something to seem useful. Even if they don’t understand what they’re doing.
Either way, Unsocial Media is the genie out of the bottle and that demon cannot be put back in the bottle. It’s here to stay until we have some apocalyptic disaster that will shut down the internet. What I worry most is how totalitarian countries like Communist China uses the internet to spy on their people. Using the internet for social credits to condition behavior. Not just spying on people. Like it or not, our own government is using the internet to spy on us. The National Security Agency (NSA) has a giant network of computers and storage collection devices to collect and sift through internet traffic. Every little transaction, conversation, search, and location is being tracked and monitored by our government. The dark side of the internet. The best thing to do is to turn off, tune out, and stick the devices in a drawer where it can be out of sight and out of mind. And out of evil hands.