Social media, he claims.

 

 

And it's getting much much worse ... huge increase in Kids never leaving the parents home and never becoming independent.  Some call it the "Family" structure, I call it dependency and lack of skills to operate in the real world.  I think their plan is do nothing all their life and then live of any parental inheritance. 

I don't get my data form any media outlets, this is from years of interaction with coworkers and friends ... it's staggering how many over 18's are still living at home with parents.  I know people age 51+ still living with "mom".  Just the other day I was at a retail outlet and grown adults are walking around with "comfort teddy bears" (not just one or two adults, several).

I'm sure social media has some sort of impact ... a quick browse on YouTube and you'll see channels of people literally doing nothing creative or productive other than putting on skinny woman with skimpy pants, no bra, and tight tops just enough to avoid YouTube rath ... and they get millions of subscribers/views?  I don't even know how or why YouTube algorithm puts that in my feed ... maybe because I watched a video on healthy eating?  It got so bad, I just disable YouTube tracking completely so now I get a big warning "Your watch history is off". 

It's sad to see more and more people (not just youth) are being "managed" and "manipulated" by algorithms (yes AI falls into the same definition).  People just don't verify sources at all ... too much work!  So they soak up the BS and continue down the path of ignorance.  The YouTube dreamer that thinks they can make millions of $$$ from YouTube or get free stuff or just be an "influencer" ... don't get me wrong, YouTube does offer some good stuff, I've gone thru plenty of technology videos and tech tutorials (for just about anything including flight simulation).  But 95% of it is pure garbage and it's having a very negative influence on those that run with the garbage.

The endless AI generated videos that I have to keep telling my mother-in-law and/or other friends they're fake and how to spot them as such (given the obvious that Cats aren't able to cut Tuna into Sushi rolls).

Putting aside my real world experiences, it's clearly a medium that warrants the attention of mis-information campaign by foreign and domestic governments with a huge investment.

The best way to manipulate someone is to tell them what they want to believe, it's so easy.

Edited July 25, 2025Jul 25 by SayAgain

36 minutes ago, SayAgain said:

given the obvious that Cats aren't able to cut Tuna into Sushi rolls

I've been lied to all my life! 😧

37 minutes ago, SayAgain said:

The best way to manipulate someone is to tell them what they want to believe, it's so easy.

I first realised this after I read Raymond Faust's The Magician many decades ago.  People believe either what they want to be true, or what they fear to be true.

There's also the lack of a social "village" nowadays. Not many neighbours know one another, people don't work at local factories and so are more spread out, not many people go to church etc.. it's as if everyone is out for themselves. That binding "thing" we used to have seems important.

Over here in the UK, one reason why children cannot leave home is that the price of somewhere else to live 
is prohibitive, given the often relatively low level of income that can be achieved, even with a good education and the
exorbitant price of both property and rent.

If you don't understand why "skinny woman with skimpy pants, no bra, and tight tops" gain "millions of subscribers/views",
then you perhaps haven't grasped the basics of human nature.

Without a shadow of a doubt, the massive increase in internet use and the equally massive increase in information dissemination,
both accurate and inaccurate, has wrought huge changes in the way we all lead our day to day lives.
Much of it has vastly improved the quality of life in the parts of the world where it prevails, but also as a result of human nature,
there are and always will be those who seek to abuse any system for their own benefit.

In the end, those of us with a good dose of common sense will take the good and discard the obvious attempts to distort reality,
persuade us that we should do things that are not good, or indeed lead our lives in a particular way.

It is perhaps somewhat condescending to assume that you are among an elite who cannot be ""managed" and "manipulated" by algorithms",
when in fact any thinking person can tell the difference.

13 minutes ago, Reader said:

"skinny woman with skimpy pants, no bra, and tight tops" gain "millions of subscribers/views"

I don't get these.  Why not? 🤣

1 hour ago, kevinfirth said:

I don't get these.  Why not? 🤣

Evidently, you are saintly and never venture into the dark world of You Tube, Instagram and the likes. 

YouTube is hardly dark … but my point is information direction by flawed algorithms.  Watching females on youtube seems pointless torture when you have a loving partner in the physical world.  Sure I know, males seem unable or unwilling to manage “human nature” … and guess what, women know that and hence the manipulation.

2 hours ago, Reader said:

why children cannot leave home is that the price of somewhere else to live 
is prohibitive

My first independence after university (22) was sharing an old 3 bedroom house in a crappy hood with 2 roommates to make it affordable.  Working a job that had nothing to do with my CS and Math degree. Took me 2 years until I could afford a tiny studio apartment by myself in a slightly better location, neither of them anywhere close to where I worked 1+hr train commute each way.

Like I said, I know a lot of friends that have their kids living at home … it was supposed to be short term until they saved up enough money to move out … some 20 years later, the “kids” are still living at home.  So what’s the plan when you pass-on?  

Getting ones children as independent as possible as soon as possible is for their benefit … otherwise life will leave them unequipped to deal with it too late.

Some called it tough love … I don’t, just common sense.  

For more real world perspective, I’ve interviewed 1000’s people over the decades (hiring manager), and 95% are so entitled and out of touch with the reality of the working world.  One candidate I actually did offer the job to, came back that she wanted 20% more money because she needs to hire a “dog walker” … offer rescinded.

One candidate I asked why she had 25 one month jobs of her resume (programming jobs) … her response was “tasks were completed” … she couldn’t even tell me what version of .NET she worked with …yeah right.  Some of the many examples of unequipped adults trying to get jobs.

I do believe there is a significant relationship between Social Media and the decline of a productive population.

Like said, there are benefits, but distraction and coddling is producing ineffective populations running the excuse mill.

Edited July 25, 2025Jul 25 by SayAgain

So, video games started to ruin boys in 2010?  🤭

I'm open minded to discussing things, certainly social media is a very different thing.  Still though, I remember video games and heavy metal were going to turn my generation into psycopaths.  

Still, isn't one possible reason is that the world is just a worse place?  The global economy is far worse (2008 was the big crash, maybe not a coincidence).  I'm GenX.  I was able to afford college, graduate, buy a house within a year.  Today, that's fiction for anyone not from a wealthy family.  I don't even know all the names for the younger generations, but they may as well all be "generation f&&&ed".  Kids aren't living with their parents in their 30s because they are lazy.  They can't afford it.  

Real income has been on the decline for decades, and has only accelerated.  My father in law is a guy who barely passed high school.  He went to a factory and did a non-skilled job.  He raised a family, bought a house, retired with a nice income.  He was able to afford a new car every couple of years.  Me?  I worked my way through undergrad, worked my rear end off through grad school with an IT/business degree, and I am barely doing better than he did, adjusted for inflation.  Younger generations would look at me and tell me I had it lucky (I did!).  

Remember when Dad used to work, while Mom stayed home with the kids?   That's how I grew up, but by the time I was older, it was gone.  Who can afford that anymore?  Both parents need to work full time to hope to afford day care.  

Maybe these kids are a lot smarter than we think?  What if the world is just a more awful and more stressful place?  I know a lot of people who avoid social media and they still have problems.  

I have friends with kids who are up to their eyeballs in debt.  I know people 10 years from retirement, having to take a 2nd mortgage to pay the bills.  

What if - looking back on the good old days isn't just nostalgia?  What if it really is worse now?  

31 minutes ago, SayAgain said:

YouTube is hardly dark … but my point is information direction by flawed algorithms.  Watching females on youtube seems pointless torture when you have a loving partner in the physical world.  Sure I know, males seem unable or unwilling to manage “human nature” … and guess what, women know that and hence the manipulation.

My first independence after university (22) was sharing an old 3 bedroom house in a crappy hood with 2 roommates to make it affordable.  Working a job that had nothing to do with my CS and Math degree. Took me 2 years until I could afford a tiny studio apartment by myself in a slightly better location, neither of them anywhere close to where I worked 1+hr train commute each way.

Like I said, I know a lot of friends that have their kids living at home … it was supposed to be short term until they saved up enough money to move out … some 20 years later, the “kids” are still living at home.  So what’s the plan when you pass-on?  

Getting ones children as independent as possible as soon as possible is for their benefit … otherwise life will leave them unequipped to deal with it too late.

Some called it tough love … I don’t, just common sense.  

For more real world perspective, I’ve interviewed 1000’s people over the decades (hiring manager), and 95% are so entitled and out of touch with the reality of the working world.  One candidate I actually did offer the job to, came back that she wanted 20% more money because she needs to hire a “dog walker” … offer rescinded.

One candidate I asked why she had 25 one month jobs of her resume (programming jobs) … her response was “tasks were completed” … she couldn’t even tell me what version of .NET she worked with …yeah right.  Some of the many examples of unequipped adults trying to get jobs.

I do believe there is a significant relationship between Social Media and the decline of a productive population.

Like said, there are benefits, but distraction and coddling is producing ineffective populations running the excuse mill.

As a dad I'm not obsessed with my kids leaving home only to have to struggle just as their lives start - the fact is, they don't stop being my kids just because they're 18 and if I can help them in any way I can I will... mine will always be a home and if they need an extra few years to get a head start in life I have no problem at all with facilitating it. They don't need a flat/house for the most part, they just need a room and some privacy. It makes no sense for them to pay through the nose for the same privilege I can offer them at home. Plus, the company is nice and they're my children at the end of the day, I'd sooner they be under my roof if they want to be.

What I won't tolerate though is them sitting on their backside all day. They need to be earning or educating themselves with a goal in mind. 

 

The absolute best High School graduation present  any parent can give a child is a set of luggage.  My
sister got one and the fact I had an 1A draft classification right out of high school, I did a single
semester of Junior College and then enlisted in the Navy.  Thank you Tet Offensive. 

24 minutes ago, FPVSteve said:

It makes no sense for them to pay through the nose for the same privilege I can offer them at home.

I disagree.  What someone learns from paying thru the nose is "value" and "motivation" to get into something better (if they want something better).  Living at home can remove the motivation ... like you suggest, why move out and spend money when one can live at home for free?

27 minutes ago, FPVSteve said:

Plus, the company is nice and they're my children

Is this about you or your kids?  I would argue one loves their children more by making them independent and provide the gift of being able to make ALL their own decisions on their own time with their own income (be them good, bad, or anything in-between).

 

7 minutes ago, SayAgain said:

I disagree.  What someone learns from paying thru the nose is "value" and "motivation" to get into something better (if they want something better).  Living at home can remove the motivation ... like you suggest, why move out and spend money when one can live at home for free?

Is this about you or your kids?  I would argue one loves their children more by making them independent and provide the gift of being able to make ALL their own decisions on their own time with their own income (be them good, bad, or anything in-between).

 

You sound like the type of guy who'd chuck his kids in the river to see if they can swim. Whatever makes you feel good my man, just remember they can also choose who they spend time with when they leave once they've figured stuff out... 

As I said, I won't tolerate lazing around. They have motivation - they also have  a great foundation on which to build their lives without having to worry about falling down at the first hurdle either financially or living in a dump and struggling to get out of it (character building I guess you'd call it). 

My eldest step-son is 25 this year, he moved out 18 months ago so he was around 23 ... for nearly five years he had a job, built up a savings account and now he has no worries. Nice place of his own, nicer car than me and a career. He didn't have to take a crappy minimum wage job just to get by and make things exponentially harder for himself, he went for what he wanted and got it. More importantly we get on amazingly well and I feel like I (we) did right by him. He's free to balls it all up if he chooses now that he's flown the nest but you'll never convince me I made a mistake in not booting him out at 18.

43 minutes ago, kerosene31 said:

Kids aren't living with their parents in their 30s because they are lazy.  They can't afford it.

Absolutely disagree.  Every single one of my friend's coworkers admits their "kids" (Adults) living with them are lazy ... often causes conflict between the parents (oddly it's the male side that seems to be soft).  

Apartments in my area (Portland OR) go from $1000 to $3000/mo pending location and facilities.  Even if the job is a min wage job, I've had plenty of those during my High School and University days ... current min wage here is $16.30 (this can range from low of $14/hr pending your state).   40 hour week at $33,824 so net around $25,000 yearly.  Shared housing at $1000/mo consumes $12,000 ... $13,000 left over for food, transport, incidentals, insurances (if needed). 

So the picture you paint is that no kid/adult will ever be able to afford to buy a home?  I disagree with that, but since when has home ownership been something life owes anyone?  It might be a goal for some, not others.   But, when I finally got into a job that was specific to my career goals, the goal of home ownership became more real ... but I agree that fresh out of university I thought home ownership was impossible (that was some 39 years ago when I was age 22).  Home ownership desire really hasn't been any more or less accessible. 

2008 was the result of certain members of congress passing deregulation of bank (Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and Commodity Futures Modernization Act and weak oversight and mortgage-backed securities and credit default swaps) that allowed more unqualified (financial) people access to home loans they could never afford ... didn't take rocket scientist to see the impending collapse.