Spend Too Much Time on TFT? Blame your parents.

[Trausti]

Humans are animals. We cannot escape our genes.

Online media use has become an increasingly important behavioral domain over the past decade. However, studies into the etiology of individual differences in media use have focused primarily on pathological use. Here, for the first time, we test the genetic influences on online media use in a UK representative sample of 16 year old twins, who were assessed on time spent on educational (N = 2,585 twin pairs) and entertainment websites (N = 2,614 twin pairs), time spent gaming online (N = 2,635 twin pairs), and Facebook use (N = 4,333 twin pairs). Heritability was substantial for all forms of online media use, ranging from 34% for educational sites to 37% for entertainment sites and 39% for gaming. Furthermore, genetics accounted for 24% of the variance in Facebook use. Our results support an active model of the environment, where young people choose their online engagements in line with their genetic propensities.

You are your parents.

 

[rousseau]

I'd expect that people who spend a ton of time online tend toward the introverted side of the spectrum, which is almost entirely heritable.

It's about how much excitement you need, for some people the internet hits the sweet spot, for others it's not enough fun.

 

[Malintent]

I had to read the OP three times to comprehend it... a criticism of my old-ass-self.
I am an internet frontiersman... child of the 70's... I taught my parents about the internet.
Now that people learn about the internet from their parents, instead of catching their parents up to what was once a newly emerging technology, I can see how usage would be influenced by those making the introduction (and controlling the exposure to content, to some parental extent).

But for those of us who were part of the initial discovery and development process... the internet frontiersmen, it was a whole other thing.

 

[fromderinside]

Remember Mosaic? I used to play the vi version of Dungeons and Dragons in the mid 70s.

 

[rousseau]

I had to read the OP three times to comprehend it... a criticism of my old-ass-self.
I am an internet frontiersman... child of the 70's... I taught my parents about the internet.
Now that people learn about the internet from their parents, instead of catching their parents up to what was once a newly emerging technology, I can see how usage would be influenced by those making the introduction (and controlling the exposure to content, to some parental extent).

But for those of us who were part of the initial discovery and development process... the internet frontiersmen, it was a whole other thing.

Even then. I can see a correlation between the 'frontier-people' you speak of and their boomer parents. When one is a big user, the other often is too, as well as the converse.

 

[fromderinside]

Ah, another believer in the principle of "If it's all the same to you ...." I just did essentially the same thing on a sister social post.

 

[Speakpigeon]

Humans are animals. We cannot escape our genes.

Yes we can.

And we do.

It's called the environment.

I suppose it's way to obvious to need any arguing.
EB

 

[Trausti]

Humans are animals. We cannot escape our genes.

Yes we can.

And we do.

It's called the environment.

I suppose it's way to obvious to need any arguing.
EB

Ah, the blank slate. The pseudoscience of the left.

 

[rousseau]

Yes we can.

And we do.

It's called the environment.

I suppose it's way to obvious to need any arguing.
EB

Ah, the blank slate. The pseudoscience of the left.

Holy shit, I agree with you about something.

Environment has a non-zero impact, but yea, genes are much more powerful than many realize.

 

[Tigers!]

I tried to blame my parents. They told me to visit a taxidermist.

 

[fromderinside]

Can't blame your parents. After all, when you were born they invested in the future. Taxidermist? They did good. A taxidermist will teach you that you're noting until you're stuffed.

I'm still trying to decode TFT though.

 TFT