Technology

The bar is so low. I remember my old roommates from Uni. If there was any disagreement about a thing, they’d whip out their phone, find any article that remotely supports their claim and that was it. You’re wrong. A case in point was using reg dishwashing soap in a dishwasher (I told them all not to). They couldn’t really find anything on Google so they just said it was fine.

The future looks as bright as mud.

Fact checking. Never heard of it.

It's an increasingly popular first search goto for basic research for a lot of people. YouTube was like that for a long time in the same way Amazon is for product searches.

Not a great trend.

It's Sturgeon's Law.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sturgeon%27s_law

And the amount of "omg I stimmed in this public place!" That are then videos of them just being dicks and pretending that this "uncontrollable movement" knocked something over.

And the amount of patently fake DID tiktoks, ugh. I moved over to YouTube shorts mostly for other reasons but there are way less of those things going on there.

I understand that it can be annoying, but I personally find the adhd memes pretty funny and relatable because my fiancee has adhd. A lot of the memes about not doing chores and getting distracted can be applicable to neurotypical people, but there's also an additional layer of lived experience that accompanies those memes to be very relevant to people that have adhd or lives with someone who does

I'm really torn on this, because on one hand the over generalization of ADHD prevented me - and is still preventing me - from taking my own diagnosis too seriously, but that same information got me to at least think about it and get a consult with a psychiatrist on it in the first place.

It helped the diagnosis but not the feelings of being an imposter post-diagnosis.

It's almost as if the platform is explicitly meant to provide the video equivalent of Xitter's 144 character meaningless messages.

Still better relationship advice than Tiktok

Yes, of course the actual autistic people would know less about how to address their daily issues than doctors /s

They would be familiar with their own personal experience, yes. But things like autism vary greatly. Doctors will understand the condition more generally.

Meanwhile, you have a large group of people with lived experience sharing that experience. Surely that counts for something?

Not necessarily.

My kid has been diagnosed with autism and ADHD, and going through the diagnosis process, we realised that I fit a lot of the symptoms. Speaking to friends with various disorders and mental health issues, as well as reading up on them online, we found out that autism and ADHD have overlaps in behaviour. They also overlap with anxiety, OCD, bipolar disorder, and a few others.

The bouncing knee seems to be recognised as a stim for autism, hyperactivity for ADHD, and a nervous behaviour for anxiety. A group of people could convince someone that it's a sign of whichever diagnosis they personally have, while not knowing about the others, all while not realising that the person asking is just suffering from caffeine withdrawal.

Obviously this is an oversimplification, but hopefully it helps to point out that all groups have their own blind spots, and we all tend to colour things with our own perspective.

Yes, of course the actual autistic people would know less about how to address their daily issues than doctors /s

Its been shown time and time again though that the people who are gaining attention/views/money on tiktok and whatnot... are not exactly likely to be telling the truth.

People figure out very fast whatever magic flavorful words they need to say every month to farm the clicks and get those likes and shares.

I'd expect the majority of people you see claiming they are autistic on tiktok and proceeding to start giving medical advice about it, are likely just lying for money.

It becomes even more obvious when you look at their history and see that what they focus on shifts every few months in terms of content they push.