Is social media really harmful to kids?

It's the incentive structure they put into it. Social media can be great when used in moderation to connect with people, but every site has some way to drag people in for way too long, whether intentionally or not. For example, Imgflip's point system. Some people use Imgflip to talk to people and share memes like it was intended to, but some people go absolutely crazy over getting points, and entire streams dedicated to getting them exist.

I think you're right. To be successful and keep people coming back there must be an incentive of some sort.

i stopped giving a f**k about points a long time ago

I never really cared about them ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Both
I have it, but I don't spend much time on it at all. The most I'm on it is when talking to people I actually know. I don't care how many likes I get, any occasional post is kinda stupid because I'd kinda cringe if I posted stuff unironically, so I get the most laughs at the fact that I posted it and a couple people make confused comments XD
So I'm ascended, meaning that filthy peasant users that aren't me can be the problem, buuuuut, the system is kinda designed to suck you in, cause that's how they make their money.

Lol. Thanks for stooping to reply oh ascended one. ;) I can't say I'm much into the social media, I spend the most time here and the point system at first kept me here but now it's the community. I don't have insta,or twitter or the others and only have a facebook that i barely check and post every once in awhile. I think the main problem lies in when people start comparing themselves to what they see on the screen forgetting that people only post the best filtered versions of themselves.

Yeah that seems to be the issue I hear of

Both, mcluhan‘s books and interviews are amazing. Such a great mind about the influences of tech/mediums on human behaviour

Definitely the users. Stuff like social media is not inherently evil nor good. It just depends on who using said object.

USU!!!!

Tbh, I think it's alittle bit of both. There are people who are in social media that are just jerks and don't belong in society :). But it's also some apps that are asking for too much info, like they don't need to know every little thing about you.

Users. Some are really toxic

The people who run them

I may only be 15 but my thought is it depends on how you view it. I use IG and the Xbox App/Console normally and I tend to post either unironically or pure intention and sure, I could live without the views but at the same time, it's one of those things where it gives you a sense of accomplishment where you need to constantly remind yourself it's all but a screen and a few electrical currents and none of it really means much. I've seen the negatives of social media and I mean, it's kinda hard not to, but it really depends on the user in my opinion. Sure, the app may stand for anti-bullying, plagiarism, so on, and so forth but it's not like they really do much to actually prevent the users from doing negative things, otherwise that would contradict our freedom of speech more or less. It's a double-edged sword really, block one blade, the other still gets you.

I have always swore that the problem for everything is not the thing itself but people, the human race

Its the users.
some people are saying that the point system is making this place kinda bad, but the point system would exist if it weren't for the users needing an incentive to stay- otherwise imgflip wouldn't have as many people as it does now.
And the people on Social media most of the time don't know when to shut the f**k up.
Some users only care about what they have opinions on, and only care about there opinions.
The deal with social media is that when you have a way to talk to anyone in the world any time you'd like, you will only talk with people you share common interest in.
Like lets say for example: you were a homophobe (not saying you are or aren't just an example) and someone you've been talking to comes out as gay- now IRL you can't really do much other than ignore them- but then you may feel bad- while online you can simply be like "Ew- you gross- *blocks*" end of story. that easy.
and if you have an opinion that someone doesn't have and you come across a post with a furry on it, and you dislike furries, you can simply comment on that image "FURIES SUCK ASS!!!" and suffer only your notifs being spammed with either support or hate. but you can always turn notifs off.
However offline if you see someone wearing a fur-suit and you hate furries then you'd probably be less keen to engage with them due to the fact that they can see your face and potentially know who you are.
I feel like Im rambling- but if you don't get the point I'll explain something to you if you ask.

The users

That be including me

It’s the individual user imo.
I had to deactivate FB. I just couldn’t avoid getting pulled into negativity.
I feel better off for it to

Usas, da salty ones.

the users, definitely.

The users

It's both.
I can't explain why I'm saying that since I doubt I can explain stuff anyways.

The users make all social media a complete trash hole. Most users I see now are toxic because toxicity spreads like wildfire. If we could put more restrictions on who uses it or even just educate parents better that would solve many MANY problems with social media.

Uuuuu users probabley \_(‘_’)_/

It's definitely the users

It’s both, plain and simple

yes