So, I’ve managed to trigger this red bubble despite having >50% regulation of social media, and while this is certainly a phenomena occurring in our society which is worth modelling, the current game play around it is lacking. The primary issue is that there is only one thing the player can do about it, implement 1 policy strong enough to counter the inputs, as it is unrealistic to expect players to be willing to intentionally cut technology and GDP by enough to make this problem go away once it has started.
(Side note: I had forgotten that youth club subsidies also slightly help.)
Anyways, for the game play to be interesting there needs to be both multiple ways for a player to succeed and multiple ways for a player to fail. Without choice and consequences the player is basically doing the gaming equivalent of riding a theme park ride, locked in, following the rails, and watching a show over which they have no influence. So, I present my own cobbled together list of suggestions on how to address this:
-Cyber bullying awareness program should provide a down tick.
-Free parenting classes should provide a down tick. At the same time, this crises being present should increase the cost of these classes.
-State schools should decrease this problem at higher levels. This one definitely needs a curve to it, as 40+ kids all with the text books out listening to Charlie Brown’s teaching going “wop wop wop” could very easily have their phones out behind the books or under the desks. Conversely a teacher who is not so over worked, has had training to see the signs of a problem, and has few enough students to actually know them well enough to see changes in behavior would be much better able to either work on the problem themselves or at least activate the right resources. There should be a private education parallel to this, but I’m not getting into that in detail.
-This next policy is from a mod I use, but Cliff, you should really add this one to the actual game: “Elderly internet education program” Basically covers things from how to literally set up the internet to teaching them what refund scams look like. It slightly bumps retired opinion, slightly bumps education, and has a small down tick to a few crises. I would throw social media addiction into the crises this policy should decrease.
That about covers the “being nice about it” inputs, on to the authoritarian approaches.
-Internet censorship, just ban the social media groups/individuals/whatever who people are following addictively.
-Internet tax: Only a slight decrease, but if people are paying for less internet they have less chance to get caught up in this.
-Restricting crypto currencies: Abridged version: People intentionally baiting addictive behavior are often plugging crypto currencies. I realized my explanation of this one had gotten long winded.
Long explanation: I’ve gotten into a lot of dumb arguments with people over the last 2 years. I have a large extended family with…a diverse array of opinions represented…sure, that’s a nice way to put it, and I also for some reasons still have a bunch of ex coworkers on my Facebook. I bring this up to add context to why I’ve ended up viewing a lot of the dumb conspiracy stuff on YouTube in the last couple years. I’m usually getting myself into dumb arguments because I’m one of those people who can’t just leave it alone when I see someone I know supporting something stupid. Anyways, while I’m grudgingly following the link so I can debunk whatever crap today’s idiot thinks validates the things I can’t believe they actually believe, I’ve noticed that these guys have a very high tendency to be plugging crypto currencies. I’ll give these guys credit that they have the graphic design skills to make mum’s basement look like a news room, words scrolling at the bottom and all, and dad’s suit does look good on them. However, omg nearly all of them are plugging crypto, and if the video is more than a couple months old I can look up the crypto they’re plugging and “yup, it was a pyramid scheme”. Anyways, point is I’ve noticed a strong link between the people who are clearly bating addictive viewing and advertisements for crypto currency.
Ok, and a couple other points:
-There should be a two way link between mental health and social media addiction. Yes, I’m asking you to code a feedback loop. I’m asking you to do that because it’s what happens in real life.
-I’m not sure if it already exists, but there should also be a feedback loop between polarization and social media addiction.
That’s about all I’ve got for today’s play session. Other than that, this one isn’t honestly a big enough deal to warrant it’s own thread but: Speed cameras should slightly increase industrial automation. They are automating some cops out of a job.