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I would agree with you, if I thought helping kids is what Haidt is about. But, less than two years ago, he was on (and on) about how social media is "undermining democracy" and using advocating control of its use (by adults. ) See link to just one of his articles on this: theatlantic.com/ideas/a…. He's also written academic articles clai…
I would agree with you, if I thought helping kids is what Haidt is about. But, less than two years ago, he was on (and on) about how social media is "undermining democracy" and using advocating control of its use (by adults. ) See link to just one of his articles on this: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/07/social-media-harm-facebook-meta-response/670975/. He's also written academic articles claiming social media creates a "democracy recession".
Haidt is one of many elites that criticize social media because it makes it more difficult to control the narrative and suppress unwanted views than with previous technologies, so they claim it harms democracy (and, now, kids mental health). If Haidt was ONLY criticizing social media due to its potential damage to kids' mental health, I wouldn't be so skeptical (I'm a parent; I agree, kids spend too much time on phones), but this latest book and article is just Haidt's (and the broader elite's) latest attack on social media as a mode of communication because they want to believe that social media is the reason they're losing their grip on power, rather than their terrible policies.
I just don't see the guy as genuine.
Fair enough, that definitely seems like valid criticism to me. At least of Haidts motives.
I think there's merit to the message, as you said, but in the future I'll try to be more discerning of the messenger.
I'd agree that this really isn't something that should be in the hands of the government either way.
It's a good thing that parents have more access to controls and hopefully they will begin to use them with good sense.