#291 – Jonathan Haidt: The Case Against Social Media

Jonathan Haidt is a social psychologist at NYU and author of The Coddling of the American Mind, The Righteous Mind, and The Happiness Hypothesis. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors: - Uncruise: https://uncruise.com/pages/lex - Notion: https://notion.com/startups to get up to $1000 off team plan - Blinkist: https://blinkist.com/lex and use code LEX to get 25% off premium - Magic Spoon: https://magicspoon.com/lex and use code LEX to get $5 off - Eight Sleep: https://www.eightsleep.com/lex and use code LEX to get special savings EPISODE LINKS: Jonathan's Twitter: https://twitter.com/JonHaidt Jonathan's Website: https://jonathanhaidt.com Documents & Articles: 1. Social Media and Political Dysfunction: A Collaborative Review: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vVAtMCQnz8WVxtSNQev_e1cGmY9rnY96ecYuAj6C548/edit 2. Teen Mental Health Testimony: https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Haidt%20Testimony.pdf 3. The Atlantic article: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2022/05/social-media-democracy-trust-babel/629369/ Books: 1. The Coddling of the American Mind (book): https://amzn.to/3MW4HqL 2. The Righteous Mind (book): https://amzn.to/3to0tkj 3. The Happiness Hypothesis (book): https://amzn.to/3Mb1xP2 PODCAST INFO: Podcast website: https://lexfridman.com/podcast Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2lwqZIr Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2nEwCF8 RSS: https://lexfridman.com/feed/podcast/ YouTube Full Episodes: https://youtube.com/lexfridman YouTube Clips: https://youtube.com/lexclips SUPPORT & CONNECT: - Check out the sponsors above, it's the best way to support this podcast - Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/lexfridman - Twitter: https://twitter.com/lexfridman - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lexfridman - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lexfridman - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lexfridman - Medium: https://medium.com/@lexfridman OUTLINE: Here's the timestamps for the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time. (00:00) - Introduction (07:57) - Social media and mental health (21:45) - Mark Zuckerberg (31:23) - Children's use of social media (42:08) - Social media and democracy (58:14) - Elon Musk and Twitter (1:14:45) - Anonymity on social media (1:20:44) - Misinformation (1:27:38) - Social media benefits (1:30:22) - Political division on social media (1:36:54) - Future of social media (1:42:46) - Advice for young people