Instagram, Children, and the Rest of Us

CNN reports that 33 states have accused Meta of only disabling a “fraction” of the accounts reported with millions of reports from parents, friends, and online community members. There is no questioning the fact that social media is having a negative impact on children, particularly young girls. One Meta product designer wrote in an internal email that, “young ones are the best ones.”

CNN further writes Meta did a 2021 study that concluded Instagram’s algorithm may be amplifying negative social comparison and “content with a tendency to cause users to feel worse about their body or appearance.” Of course! When you combine that with yet-to-be-fully-developed 13-year-old brains, the conclusion is inevitable.

We are beyond the point of speculation that social media is harming children. At this point, we need to get serious about putting up some guardrails. Moreover, I’d argue that humans don’t magically get superpowers to avoid these negative consequences once they reach the age of 13, 16, 21, or even 64. We should all be aware of how these things can pull us into negative spirals and be on the lookout.

This Month in the MacSparky Labs

Here’s what took place in the Labs for the month of November 2023:

  • 2023-11-29 – Kagi Search (Levels 1-3)
  • 2023-11-29 – Focus Modes Deep Dive (Level 3)
  • 2023-11-28 – Searching Apple Notes with Alfred (Levels 2-3)
  • 2023-11-27 – Monday Brief 2023-11-27 (Levels 1-3)
  • 2023-11-27 – Last Call Black Friday Newsletter (Levels 1-3)
  • 2023-11-23 – The Lab Report for Friday November 24, 2023 (Levels 1-3)
  • 2023-11-22 – Dropzone Usage and Plugins (Levels 1-3)
  • 2023-11-21 – FOD Conversation: Jean MacDonald (Levels 2-3)
  • 2023-11-20 – Monday Brief – 2023-11-20 (Levels 1-3)
  • 2023-11-17 – The Lab Report for Friday November 17, 2023 (Levels 1-3)
  • 2023-11-14 – Early Black Friday Newsletter (Levels 1-3)
  • 2023-11-14 – Bartender Update (Levels 2-3)
  • 2023-11-14 – 3D-Printed Storage (Levels 1-3)
  • 2023-11-13 – Monday Brief (Levels 1-3)
  • 2023-11-10 – Lab Report (Levels 1-3)
  • 2023-11-09 – November Labs Meetup (Levels 2-3)
  • 2023-11-08 – October 2023 Deep Dive – Maker and Manager (Video and podcast) (Level 3)
  • 2023-11-07 – A Look at the Elgato Prompter (Levels 2-3)
  • 2023-11-06 – Monday Brief (Levels 1-3)
  • 2023-11-04 – Labs FOD: Stream Decks with Tim Stringer (Video) (Levels 2-3)
  • 2023-11-03 – The Lab Report for November 3, 2023 (Levels 1-3)
  • 2023-11-03 – Labs FOD: Tim Stringer’s Stream Decks (Levels 1-3)
  • 2023-11-02 – Find and Delete Duplicates on Your Mac with Gemini (Levels 2-3)

If you’d like to be a part of the MacSparky Labs, you can get more information and join right here.

Searching Apple Notes with Alfred

I recently discovered an excellent Alfred plugin that lets you search and jump to individual Apple Notes (and Apple Notes Folders) from Alfred. For bonus points, it also lets you easily create links to individual notes you can past elsewhere. (Contextual computing FTW!)… This is a post for MacSparky Labs Level 3 (Early Access) and Level 2 (Backstage) Members only. Care to join? Or perhaps do you need to sign in?

The Problem with Fakes

Lately, I’ve been looking at a lot of fakes. Adam Savage did an excellent video comparing actual Apple products with knock-offs that look like Apple products on the outside but very much are not Apple products on the inside. Looking at the fake Apple power supply, I’d be afraid to use it.

On the woodworking side, there is a separate problem where manufacturers are copying innovative products and undercutting the inventors. The copies are often closer to the quality of the originals but rarely equal. (It’s easier without so many electronics involved.) So, consumers are saving a few bucks buying the copies.

As a lawyer, I saw the consequences of these rip-offs. One in particular I recall was a family business that ultimately failed when a foreign competitor copied their product, documentation, and branding and flooded the market at a cut price.

If you don’t have an opinion on knockoffs, you probably should. Setting aside the fact that they can be dangerous, It’s just crushing for a business that spends piles of time and money making an innovative product to have someone copy it as soon as it’s released (often right down to product colors and branding). So I don’t buy copies. If I can’t afford the original, I don’t buy anything. If you’re afraid of unknowingly buying knockoffs, be careful where you buy from. Whenever possible, go directly to the manufacturer.

Mac Power Users 720: The 2023 Developer Roundtable

Stephen and I are joined by David Smith, Malin Sundberg, and Ken Case on this episode of Mac Power Users to talk about developing for Apple’s platforms here in 2023.

This episode of Mac Power Users is sponsored by:

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Thanks, and a Field Guide Discount

I’m now approaching two years since I threw my law practice shingle into the wood chipper. I could not be happier. David Foster Wallace once started a speech talking about some goldfish.

“Two young fish are asked by an older fish, “How’s the water?” and one young fish turns to the other and says, “what the hell is water?”

In my case, I didn’t realize how stressful the legal practice was until I got out of the water. Your support made that possible. Thank you.

Also, I’m running a short-time discount on all Field Guides. 20% off everything with the code “TURKEY1983”. Newsletter subscribers learned about this a few days ago.