Copyright The Street
Plenty of research has been conducted in recent years on the risks associated with the use of social media among children and adolescents. For one, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) emphasizes the fact that young people who spend more than three hours a day on social media face an elevated risk of mental health problems, including experiencing symptoms of depression and anxiety. “We have gaps in our full understanding of the mental health impacts posed by social media, but at this point cannot conclude it is sufficiently safe for children and adolescents,” HHS found. In his new book, “Notes on Being a Man,” New York University professor and Prof G podcast host Scott Galloway raised the stakes in his criticism of technology companies that profit from harmful algorithms, particularly with regard to young boys and men. “Algorithmically generated content on social media contributes to and profits from young men’s isolation, social isolation, boredom and ignorance,” Galloway wrote. “With the deepest-pocketed firms on the planet trying to convince young men that they can have a reasonable facsimile of life on a screen, many grow up without acquiring the skills to build social capital or create wealth.” “The percentage of young men aged twenty to twenty-four who are neither in school nor working has tripled since 1980,” he continued. “Workforce participation among men has fallen below 90 percent, caused by a lack of well-paying jobs, wage stagnation, disabilities, a mismatch of skills and/or training, and falling demand for jobs traditionally held by prime-age men.” Scott Galloway places blame on 10 tech firms Galloway explains his view that the U.S. currently places a large, risky bet on technology such as artificial intelligence and social media. “Ten companies have driven all the growth in GDP and are responsible for 77% of the earnings growth,” he said recently on CNN. “Our economy literally rests on companies now often referred to as the Magnificent 10.” “And they do several things, but quite frankly, they’re in the business of enragement, polarization and then sequestering young people from all other activities,” Galloway added. Galloway further presses his point. “These companies have attached the entire economy and literally trillions of dollars to trying to convince young people, specifically young men, who are more susceptible because, quite frankly, their prefrontal cortices aren’t as developed, to try and convince them that kind of reasonable facsimile of life online,” he said. “Why go through the hierarchy of trying to make friends? It’s not easy, right? Why try to figure out how to navigate a corporate — you know, all of this — when you can go on Reddit or Discord and find friends, or you can trade crypto or stocks on Robinhood or Coinbase?” he asked. “And why, Anderson (referring to CNN’s Anderson Cooper), would you go through the rejection and the dressing well, the effort, the expense, the humiliation, developing a kindness practice of trying to establish a romantic partnership when you have literally life-like synthetic porn?” Galloway added a scathing criticism of U.S. economic goals. “Our economy is attached to one objective, and that is to evolve a new species of asocial, asexual males,” Galloway said. “Unintentionally, we have an economic interest, right now, I would argue, in planning our own extinction.” Galloway points to public policy and the housing market Beyond technology challenges, four decades of tax and fiscal policy have disproportionately benefited older Americans, according to Galloway, who turned 61 on Nov. 3. He says his generation has seen a 72% increase in average wealth over that span, while those under 40 have become 24% poorer. Galloway points out a social consequence of this economic shift: Forty years ago, 60% of 30-year-olds had at least one child at home. Today, that figure has dropped to just 27%. “There’s a natural gag reflex when I start talking and advocating for young men. But the reality is my advantage, my privilege. They should not have to pay the price for it,” Galloway said. “And then we have figured out — when I say we, my generation — how to vote ourselves more money, and we keep extracting more and more capital from young people to old,” he added. Galloway discussed his view on how the housing market and public policy have contributed to the problem. “The prices of housing have gone absolutely crazy,” he said. “The price of education has gone crazy because we’ve realized the way to get our houses more expensive is through a lack of permits, making it more difficult for people to get into college.” “And what do you know? The child tax credit gets stripped out of the infrastructure bill, but the $120 billion cost of living adjustment and Social Security flies right through, so they have less money, less opportunity.” The ‘Magnificent 10’ tech stocks The “Magnificent 7” refers to seven dominant tech-related stocks driving market returns, while “Magnificent 10” is a newer, broader term that includes three additional high-growth tech names. Coined in 2023 by Bank of America analyst Michael Hartnett, the “Magnificent 7” includes: Apple (AAPL) Microsoft (MSFT) Alphabet (GOOGL) Amazon (AMZN) Meta Platforms (META) Nvidia (NVDA) Tesla (TSLA) The additional three tech stocks usually referred to as part of the “Magnificent 10” are:
