In case you missed, Meta recently settled a multi-state lawsuit that was filed by 29 states. This main issue at hand was “the social media giant misrepresented the extent of child-related mental health harms caused by apps like Facebook and Instagram.” Naturally, Meta denied all charges with the trial underway in California. After the third day, the company and attorney generals of the 29 states settled — for between $17-$18 billion. They did this just before CEO Mark Zuckerberg was scheduled to testify. By settling, he didn’t have to and avoided accountability. While that amount is indeed astronomical, the truth is Meta makes that in a matter of days…easily. It really doesn’t hurt their bottom line.
I, personally, do not have a Facebook account. Never had one, never wanted one. When FB started going mainstream back in the day, their security issues and violations were all over the map. They sold your private information to the highest bidder to help Mark Zuckerberg become the billionaire he is. I recognized early on I wasn’t going to be pimped out and not get any financial benefit. We can take pieces of the platform and debate the pros and cons, but without a doubt social media in general is a horrific cancer on this country. The dumbing down of humans over the past several years is really hard to watch. Everywhere you go – school, restaurants, waiting rooms, stores, etc. you have all age groups walking or standing around scrolling, taking selfies, playing games, watching videos, and so on.
Young adults, and especially young teenagers, have become statistics when social media and mental health have clashed. It is well-documented that way too many kids have committed suicide with many reasons why being linked to social media and its negative impact. By settling, Meta agreed to make long overdue changes to its platform and policies that will try to improve the safety of our kids. The company has written letters to fellow social media giants YouTube and Google to ask they make necessary changes to their platforms as well. They have a long, long way to go, but at least it’s a start.
In the meantime, make a phone call to a close friend or family member you haven’t seen or talked to in a while, and engage in an actual conversation instead of typing it. Go to the library and check out a book by your favorite author and lose yourself in something that stimulates the mind for all the right reasons. You deserve it.
Floyd Prophet lives in Kannapolis.
