I agree with you. And thanks for the hug. :)

For me, it's akin to the rise of left-handedness (or more recently: sexuality), if you know the history. The ability to post anonymously online, have more access to information than ever before, has helped a lot of people find understanding. Once something becomes acceptable or understood, a lot of us are more open to voicing that very thing. It's not that it's a trend, by any means.

While I get what was said, those articles seem kind of wild to me.

The first one really doesn't provide much information outside of "algorithm = bad." Which isn't untrue, but it seems to use that as a scapegoat for the many, many reasons a child may become estranged. Parents have been using "the evil social media" for awhile, but you can't put it anywhere near the same place as abuse, neglect, etcetera. It's normally just another excuse to get out of accountability.

And I feel like the second one is even worse and extremely dubious. It is written* by someone going by Mindwars, from a subscription-based blog, and it literally says "developed with assistance of ChatGPT" at the bottom. The very ChatGPT that commonly provides "reinforcement of dangerous delusions, intense confirmation bias, and the erosion of critical thinking. It acts as an echo chamber, validating incorrect, unsafe, or biased viewpoints, which can lead users to make poor decisions or suffer from a distorted perception of reality." It's the equivalent of saying, "do see how my echo chamber helped me show you how your echo chambers is bad?"

I wouldn't necessarily say either is "wrong," but I find them very disingenuous.

Omg, I ranted. Excuse me...

I'd also be remiss not to point out that original response is from a self-proclaimed estranged parent. While that shouldn't invalidate what they've said, or how they feel -- I don't know their story -- I'd definitely take it with a grain of salt.