Every generation thought their next generation's innovation was a juggernaut of manipulation.
People thought rock and roll was the end of the world.
https://www.usi.edu/news/releases/2017/02/rock-n-roll-and-mo...
People thought rock and roll was the end of the world.
https://www.usi.edu/news/releases/2017/02/rock-n-roll-and-mo...
I mean sure, the music was just one manifestation of the cultural shifts through the late 60s and 70s, but those people complaining about it were broadly right in that it was a real threat to their way of life, if wrong about their most dire and hyperbolic predictions of the consequences.
Personally I think there's tons that's very positive about Instagram, but even if I didn't, it's not for me to dictate how the next generation chooses to communicate and enjoy themselves.
I do sympathise with the libertarian take on this, if people like and enjoy Instagram that's up to them, but these social media platforms are not neutral channels. They tailor their feeds individually, to users who have limited control of their feed. The platform is in control and they manipulate the feed to serve their own interests.
I'm not going to say therefore we should do this or that thing, I don't know what the right thing is to do.
Would you accept that in principle the level of control platforms have over their feeds, and the incentives they have to do so, potentially opens them up to some level of responsibility for the consequences?
The issue isn't a changing of culture, it's an issue of mental health. Previous generations "looked down" on things like music because it was a cultural phenomenon they didn't understand or care for. I don't recall any previous generation that was facing massive mental health issues as a result of their cultural changes.
I still think some of the new music being produced is garbage and some is good. I think it's hilarious to see 20-somtehing girls wearing baggy clothing that looks like it's straight out of the early 90s. None of those things have me concerned for their mental well-being. Sanity perhaps*.
*joking
It's the same record on repeat.