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Comment by notJim | Hacker News Reader

I don't think this is quite it, I think you're underrating the social aspect of it, and the algorithm aspect of it.

When I was in high school (livejournal and myspace era), I had a friend group where most of the hanging out occurred IRL. I hung out with the dorks, so there was not a lot of focus on being hot and stuff. And IRL, there aren't algorithms that constantly shove pretty people in your face. Of course you see them around, but you also see tons of normal looking or even ugly people. None of my friends really read Cosmo and stuff, because we were focused on our interests.

But in today's era, so much of the social scene is online. And the systems are set up in a way to basically constantly show you pretty people. It is hard to avoid the aspects of it you don't like without also missing out on things you do like.

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> It is hard to avoid the aspects of it you don't like without also missing out on things you do like.

Your comment resonates with me. Facebook completely sucks the air out of the room by monopolizing online social networking. The newsfeed makes the world seem so small and vapid. No room for weird.

Yea, I think the other aspect is this isn't just internet. When I was younger, going on the internet meant going to the upstairs bedroom, turning on the computer, waiting for it to boot up, then waiting for AOL to connect, then chatting with people. It would take like 5 minutes of effort. Now, most of the time when I go out, for fun, I just look how many people are hunched over staring and scrolling at their stupid rectangle in their hand all day everyday. It's usually at least 80% of people. It's the social, the algorithm, and the fact that the addiction is sitting in people's hands at all moments of the day and night.

At the risk of sounding like a grumpy old man, I remember 15-20 years ago talking to people next to me in public transports and meeting a lot of people who eventually became friends.

Now when I'm in a subway, every one is hunched on their mobile phone, no one is available to engage in conversation, to meet people. They're instead focusing on that tiny bright rectangle.

And I can see that I'm also guilty of the same. I'm always either on my kindle or my phone nowadays

Same in a bar. I go in to shoot the shit. But often times now, I will see people spend their entire time scrolling while sitting at the bar. It's sad. I switched back to a flip phone almost 1.5 years ago and while I do miss certain things, the overall experience of just not having the option to scroll is so much better for me in terms of being present.

I got the iPod on release day and got so many confused glances/stares wearing headphones around the college campus and buses. That was a short phase for me but now I’m surrounded by people who are present but without presence. The world will never be the same.

Anecdata but my brother lives in a major Scottish city and cycles a lot.

He says that the biggest threat to his safety isn't traffic, it's people walking across the road looking at their phones. Often groups of them at the same time.

He reckons that when he's out cycling (and by this, I mean he cycles about 4 or 5 miles at most) he encounters at least 5 or 6 incidents on average.

I see it in the mornings when I walk my son to school. If I had to guess, I'd say more than 40% of the kids are looking at a phone.

I've also heard of some European cities putting traffic signals on the pavements so that phone users don't have to look up: I 100% disagree with this - They get killed? It's their fault!

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