David Brooks, the New York Times columnist, has a new op-ed about the rise in teenage suicide rates. Being a reactionary, he naturally looks for something newfangled to blame, and decides it's attributable to technology -- online trolling, specifically. I'm not convinced.
For starters, take a look at suicide rates by age:
Rates are lowest among the young, and they've been rising for every age demographic, including the elderly block we'd expect to be least impacted by cyber-bullying. And while the rise of social media has been a global phenomenon, there hasn't been a rise in suicide in all of the tech-savvy nations, as we'd expect if cyber-bullying were a big driver:
Things have actually been getting better in Germany, Sweden, and France, for example.
Also, if you check rates by state, you'll see there are huge variations among the states, and those with the biggest problem are definitely not the ones with the highest Internet usage or Facebook penetration:
https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/population-health/us-states-ranked-by-suicide-rate.html
https://www.internetworldstats.com/stats26.htm
The least suicidal states, for example, are NJ, NY, MA, MD, CT, CA, IL, RI, DE, and HI. In terms of Facebook penetration, they rank 7th, 19th, 6th, 25th, 32nd, 15th, 2nd, 3rd, 50th, and 13th. So, eight out of ten have unusually high Facebook engagement. If cyber-bullying were a major driver of rates, we'd expect most of those states to have unusually serious problems with suicide. But there just doesn't seem to be any meaningful positive correlation between social media/Internet usage and suicide, at the state level. If anything, the correlation seems to go the opposite way, with the less "online" states having more suicide problems.
So, I just don't see data to back Brooks's view. However, if you look at the data, something else does stick out. Of the ten least suicidal states, every single one voted for Hillary Clinton. At the other end of the spectrum, you have MT, AK, WY, NM, UT, NV, ID, OK, CO, SD, and WV -- seven out of ten of which went for Trump. I think that rather than looking to blame technology (or other pet arguments Brooks tends to reach for, like blaming a move away from traditional religion for society's ills), we'd do well to think about what it is about conservative societies that makes people suicidally depressed (or, if you prefer, what it is about liberal societies that makes them less so). Possibly it could have to do with economic opportunities, mental health support, or just the tone of the culture. Urbanization might also be a factor -- e.g., the boredom and inactivity of rural life contributing to substance abuse and obesity, which in turn contribute to depression and suicide.
For starters, take a look at suicide rates by age:
Rates are lowest among the young, and they've been rising for every age demographic, including the elderly block we'd expect to be least impacted by cyber-bullying. And while the rise of social media has been a global phenomenon, there hasn't been a rise in suicide in all of the tech-savvy nations, as we'd expect if cyber-bullying were a big driver:
Things have actually been getting better in Germany, Sweden, and France, for example.
Also, if you check rates by state, you'll see there are huge variations among the states, and those with the biggest problem are definitely not the ones with the highest Internet usage or Facebook penetration:
https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/population-health/us-states-ranked-by-suicide-rate.html
https://www.internetworldstats.com/stats26.htm
The least suicidal states, for example, are NJ, NY, MA, MD, CT, CA, IL, RI, DE, and HI. In terms of Facebook penetration, they rank 7th, 19th, 6th, 25th, 32nd, 15th, 2nd, 3rd, 50th, and 13th. So, eight out of ten have unusually high Facebook engagement. If cyber-bullying were a major driver of rates, we'd expect most of those states to have unusually serious problems with suicide. But there just doesn't seem to be any meaningful positive correlation between social media/Internet usage and suicide, at the state level. If anything, the correlation seems to go the opposite way, with the less "online" states having more suicide problems.
So, I just don't see data to back Brooks's view. However, if you look at the data, something else does stick out. Of the ten least suicidal states, every single one voted for Hillary Clinton. At the other end of the spectrum, you have MT, AK, WY, NM, UT, NV, ID, OK, CO, SD, and WV -- seven out of ten of which went for Trump. I think that rather than looking to blame technology (or other pet arguments Brooks tends to reach for, like blaming a move away from traditional religion for society's ills), we'd do well to think about what it is about conservative societies that makes people suicidally depressed (or, if you prefer, what it is about liberal societies that makes them less so). Possibly it could have to do with economic opportunities, mental health support, or just the tone of the culture. Urbanization might also be a factor -- e.g., the boredom and inactivity of rural life contributing to substance abuse and obesity, which in turn contribute to depression and suicide.
