Banning Social Media

Wednesday April 3rd, 2024

This week in Ryan's Weekly Wave: Social media bans advance, DEI is in decline, and our age of empathy lacks accountability.

In the News

DEI in Decline: The U.S. House of Representatives’ Office of Diversity and Inclusion has been closed. (HR Dive)

• The news comes at a time when DEI is under attack by many politicians and signs of waning public support emerge. (The Hill)
• 53% of workers still believe that DEI is important when deciding where to work.

Less Dining Out: Fast food chains worry as lower income Americans refrain from dining out. (CNN Business)

• Their worries are well-founded according to a survey that suggests families who earn under $50,000 per year are in fact dining out less.

Untimely Price Hikes: Just in time for the Easter Bunny to make his rounds, the price of chocolate has soared. (The Guardian)

Other News

As disgraced crypto entrepreneur and fraudster, Sam Bankman-Fried heads to prison, one of his most audacious actions might have been attempting to bribe Chinese officials. (CNN)?

A Deeper Dive - The Movement to Ban Social Media?

A Florida law would ban social media for children under age 14, regardless of parental consent. (Reuters) Under the law, parental consent is available for children who are 14 and 15.

Additional Bans

There are differences between how red states and blue states are approaching the issue. While red states are focused on requiring age verification, blue states are focused on requiring additional tracking and content moderation.

California, Arkansas, and Ohio all passed similar laws that were struck down by courts. (Deseret) Among the cited reasons for placing these laws under injunction were vague language and an insufficient relationship to the public interest.

Utah previously banned social media use for minors under age 18 without parental consent. (New York Times)?Utah has also set the stage for parents to move forward with lawsuits if their teen is determined to have been harmed by social media use. (Government Technology)

Read more about how various states have sought to restrict access to social media for vulnerable teenagers. (Governing)

What I’m Reading

Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence

- Anna Lembke

In the modern world, humans are able to find temporary boosts of dopamine (pleasure) at virtually any time. This is unprecedented in human history, and it alters the dichotomy of pleasure and pain we all experience in our day-to-day activities. The stories of patient experiences that Dr. Lembke shares are as fun to read as the symbiotic relationship between pleasure and pain is to consider.

Could the constant access to dopamine disconnect us from the things that would make life more fulfilling?

Quote of the Week

“We as mental health care providers have become so caught up in the practice of empathy that we've lost sight of the fact that empathy without accountability is a short-sighted attempt to relieve suffering."??

- Anna Lembke

Articles of the Week

Here are some habits that will make your days off great. (Katie E. Lawrence via Medium)

People like to declutter their home but have you decluttered your digital footprint? (Myrth)

Research suggests that smart people might actually take longer to solve problems and think through ideas. (Big Think)

New From Deep Dive Careers: How to Read 1 Book per Week

• If you want to, you can read more. The way I did it was remarkably similar to how one of my favorite productivity experts, Cal Newport recommends.

Other Fun Stuff

Bud Light battles for shelf space that it was once guaranteed. (Quartz)

Dad Joke of the Week

My daughter's teddy bear is never hungry.

It's ALWAYS stuffed.

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