There Ya Go
Ican’t believe I’m doing this, but here goes.
I might be the most vocal anti Facebook person on earth. I hate Facebook, and I’ve shared that sentiment many times in my column. Facebook is the liver and onions of social media.
I think Facebook is a total joke, created for nothing more than to give people a way to tell us things we don’t really care about. Yes, it can be fun and cute, but when I get notifications that include some past friend making a putt on some golf course down south, or even from a current family member bragging about a vacation they took or some food they ate, I cringe. Matter of fact, I don’t even indulge them any longer. It’s a total waste of time.
However. Yes, however, I have to defend its creator, one Mr. Mark Zuckerberg.
Even writing that makes me queasy. Still, here I am, defending the creator of this online social wrecking ball.
Zuckerberg has had his feet held to the fire and has been left to defend his Meta company from claims it targets young users. The crux of the lawsuits he is facing involves what is being argued as abuse of minors.
There’s no doubt people are upset with Zuckerberg for what might seem like his misguided efforts to get teens to use the platform. He is being called out for creating something that some say is addictive.
Lawsuits accuse Meta and other social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and Youtube, of functioning in an addictive manner that ultimately has harmed many children.
My question is, what isn’t addictive? To blame Zuckerberg because kids are “addicted” is lazy.
Come. On. Cigarettes are addictive because nicotine is a substance that affects one’s body chemically. It’s just like drugs, or alcohol. You can blame Big Tobacco for that. You can blame the Cartel for getting drugs into our country. You can even blame the companies that produce and promote beer and whiskey for alcohol abuse.
But blaming a nerd-turned-billionare for a cyber addiction?
I say, blame the parents who should be worried about their kid spending too much time online. Sure, anyone of us can get lost in anything on our phone or computer, but when it comes to our kids, when are we going to focus our attention on mom and dad? If we’re going to play the blame game, this starts at home.
Zuckerberg is an easy target, I get that, and believe me, I’m not an ally, but is this really his fault? Has he become enemy No. 1, the scapegoat for our kids’ mental health issues? That’s low-hanging fruit. It’s too easy.
Maybe his motives aren’t exactly noble or kid-friendly, but it’s up to parents of their little “addicts” to put their foot down and come up with some consequences for their young one who spends hours on end on their phone or laptop. A little screen time is unavoidable these days, but as the adults in the room, it’s up to us to say, “Put it down, let’s go outside.”
Here we go again with the blame game. Mad? Blame Zuckerberg. Mad? Blame Trump. Mad? Blame society. Mad? Blame a teacher.
Accountability has to start at home.
