Among the most consistent and largest of all psychological sex differences is the “people vs. things” dichotomy. On average, boys are more attracted to things, machines, and complex systems that can be manipulated, while girls are more attracted to people; they are more interested in what those people are thinking and feeling.
So, in the early phases of the technological entertainment revolution, boys invested more and more of their time into computers, computer programming, and video games. It was only when social media became popular in the late 2000s that girls flocked over to the virtual world and began spending as much time as boys interacting with computers and smartphones.
Jonathan Haidt
Many issues of Haidt’s newsletter focus on the crisis of female teenage mental health caused (probably) by social media addiction. In this recent one, he takes a look at the boys. His conclusion? The reason boys don’t seem as affected by social media is that boys’ mental health has been suffering since the 1970s.
Christian Leithart 