Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #moralpanic
Most recents (10)
.@JoeNBC: I said I would share research on youth and social media. A family crisis intervened; apologies for the delay. Here are useful links. A long 🧵and 📸 /1
To start: Here's a good overview from London's @theipaper reviewing research and "misleading tactics" from Jon Haidt, Jean Twenge & John Burn-Murdoch. "A lot of the evidence is shaky and unclear." 2/
inews.co.uk/news/technolog…
inews.co.uk/news/technolog…
Amy Orben, a leading researcher in the field, studied large social datasets with 355k subjects & found "the association of well-being with regularly eating potatoes was nearly as negative as the association with technology use." In other words: small. 3/
nature.com/articles/s4156…
nature.com/articles/s4156…
A common refrain from anti-anonymity #Facebook apologists is that its #RealNamesPolicy promoted "civility" by making users "accountable" for their words. In this conception, snuffing out anonymous speech is key to protecting "the vulnerable" from trolls and other bad actors. 1/ 
If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
pluralistic.net/2023/01/24/nat… 2/
pluralistic.net/2023/01/24/nat… 2/
But while some trolls hide behind anonymity, others are only too happy to sign their vitriol. #DonaldTrump didn't need an anonymous account. #TuckerCarlson is right there in the chyron. 3/
This gets worse. The Post hangs its moral panic tale on a guy who is mocked by the f'ing Daily Caller as too far out there. He describes himself as a wiccan associated with the Church of the Subgenius:
amp.dailycaller.com/2019/04/23/goo…
amp.dailycaller.com/2019/04/23/goo…
He says he' the victim of religious discrimination & bias because he's from the South. He describes himself here as a Christian mystic. He's intelligent & well-meaning but you'd think the WaPo would have, uh, Googled him to provide context.
cajundiscordian.medium.com/religious-disc…
cajundiscordian.medium.com/religious-disc…
BTW, his boss, Blaise Aguera y Arcas -- @blaiseaguera -- is someone whose work I follow in book history: a brilliant, Princeton grad. I trust the boss. Imagine getting a call from an employee saying, in essence: The machine is *alive*! How would you react? How does the WaPo?
OK, so... unlike nicotine:
- alcohol (and cannabis) intoxicate
- alcohol abuse actually DOES harm developing brains
- teen binge drinking causes 3,500 deaths every year
THREAD
👇👇👇
- alcohol (and cannabis) intoxicate
- alcohol abuse actually DOES harm developing brains
- teen binge drinking causes 3,500 deaths every year
THREAD
👇👇👇
(2)
FAR fewer teens vape than drink. FAR fewer teens vape nicotine daily than binge drink.
It's very clear here, that vape firms do a FAR better job keeping their products away from teens than alcohol companies do.
So why the irrational #MoralPanic over teen nicotine vaping?
FAR fewer teens vape than drink. FAR fewer teens vape nicotine daily than binge drink.
It's very clear here, that vape firms do a FAR better job keeping their products away from teens than alcohol companies do.
So why the irrational #MoralPanic over teen nicotine vaping?
(3)
So... Why the irrational #MoralPanic over teen nicotine vaping?
I assume that's because 4 decades of tobacco control messaging have convinced the public and physicians that nicotine is FAR more harmful than alcohol or cannabis.
rutgers.edu/news/rutgers-l….
So... Why the irrational #MoralPanic over teen nicotine vaping?
I assume that's because 4 decades of tobacco control messaging have convinced the public and physicians that nicotine is FAR more harmful than alcohol or cannabis.
rutgers.edu/news/rutgers-l….
CDC Data:
* ALL ER mental health visits for boysđź”˝
* many ER girls mental health visit categories đź”˝
* 2-5 out of 9 disorders show variable small to large 🔼 (tics and eating disorders largest) in girls only
@nytimes:
* ALL ER mental health visits for boysđź”˝
* many ER girls mental health visit categories đź”˝
* 2-5 out of 9 disorders show variable small to large 🔼 (tics and eating disorders largest) in girls only
@nytimes:
12-17, from the report itself.
No huge increase in either group for all MHCs (mental health conditions) in adolescent boys or girls, with boys showing quite a decrease.
No huge increase in either group for all MHCs (mental health conditions) in adolescent boys or girls, with boys showing quite a decrease.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Suicide and Age, 2020-2021
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
A way to visualize the change in suicide rates during the pandemic is to plot the "Age curve" of suicide. This is another "Tyler Black exclusive" graph - possible by the single-age years in @CDCgov WONDER.
/1
Suicide and Age, 2020-2021
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
A way to visualize the change in suicide rates during the pandemic is to plot the "Age curve" of suicide. This is another "Tyler Black exclusive" graph - possible by the single-age years in @CDCgov WONDER.
/1
Here, you can clearly see an average 2020-2021 suicide rate in 0-20 ages, but quite a flattening occurs throughout 20-70 years of age, whereas in 2017-2019 there is the typical (goes back decades) "midlife hump" of suicide rates.
/2
/2
Boys and men, who die more by suicide than girls and women, again show a relative following of the curve until midlife ~45 or so, where a clear "flattening" occurred in 2020 and 2021.
/3
/3
USA Suicidology Update, 2020-2021
********
I can now create a 2021 provisional estimate, with error, for the suicide rates for 2021. My method will be described at the end of the thread.
Contrary to the #moralpanic 2020-2021 suicide rates did NOT increase.
/1
********
I can now create a 2021 provisional estimate, with error, for the suicide rates for 2021. My method will be described at the end of the thread.
Contrary to the #moralpanic 2020-2021 suicide rates did NOT increase.
/1
The rate for both males and females in the United States will likely be within the expected fluctuation of the previous years, and still less than the "peak" of 2018 pre-pandemic.
/2
/2
For Adults 61-84, likely a slight uptick for men but within 2019 levels, and for women no overall change.
/3
/3
A month ago I wrote a piece explaining how the majority of research in this area is unreliable bc the measures used are fatally flawed. I sent it to the @nytimes & other major outlets. All passed. But these types of #moralpanic pieces get published almost every week. Fear=clicks
I am honestly curious to hear what @JonHaidt and @jean_twenge think about the now well known measurement issues with self-reported tech use & whether it impacts their views about the validity/reliability of their conclusions that tech is causing harm to teens.
Here’s the piece I wrote, btw, if anyone is interested. Thankfully, @ConversationUS decided to publish it:
1/14
Again. What if we just ask adult ex-smokers how they're doing after they've switched to #SaferNicotine vaping?
OVERALL HEALTH
Again. What if we just ask adult ex-smokers how they're doing after they've switched to #SaferNicotine vaping?
OVERALL HEALTH
2/14
LUNG INFECTIONS: 90% have fewer lung infections than when they smoked.
LUNG INFECTIONS: 90% have fewer lung infections than when they smoked.
3/14
COPD: 93% of smokers with COPD who switch to nicotine vapes say their lung health has improved.
COPD: 93% of smokers with COPD who switch to nicotine vapes say their lung health has improved.
1. #Mignonnes (aka #Cuties on @netflix) has caused a lot of hot takes.
What concerns me most is that it’s clear that Republicans/ #Qultists are involved in a #MoralPanic, & those do NOT lead to successful measures to protect children from actual threats.
psychologytoday.com/us/blog/wicked…
What concerns me most is that it’s clear that Republicans/ #Qultists are involved in a #MoralPanic, & those do NOT lead to successful measures to protect children from actual threats.
psychologytoday.com/us/blog/wicked…
2. Republicans weren’t up in arms about #ToddlersInTiaras, which aired on @tlc for 7 years. Look around. It wasn’t and isn’t an outlier.
3. France, home of the film “Mignonnes,” actually banned child pageants. America has not. Note: #MoralPanics often position the evil as coming from OUTSIDE.
smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/fra…
smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/fra…
