The evidence is equivocal on whether screen time is to blame for rising levels of teen depression and anxiety — and rising hysteria could distract us from tackling the real causes.
Except yes, it is. Social media sites and apps are specifically designed to addict people to their usage in a way not seen in anything ever before. They target people so thoroughly and with such precision as to be cruel.
Children are especially prone to it. They see all these people online living lives they wish they had, with bodies they wish they had, and they spend all their time attached to the feeds. And they’re continuously targeted by it.
So were comic books, and rock n’ roll, and dancing, and DnD, and bikinis, and whatever new things the kids are into that scared parents didn’t understand.
None of those were built specifically with algorithms meant to keep people addicted to them. Nobody is arguing that cigarettes are bad for kids and social media is designed in a similar way: to keep people hooked and coming back for more.
If adults are struggling with it, why wouldn’t kids?
Except yes, it is. Social media sites and apps are specifically designed to addict people to their usage in a way not seen in anything ever before. They target people so thoroughly and with such precision as to be cruel.
Children are especially prone to it. They see all these people online living lives they wish they had, with bodies they wish they had, and they spend all their time attached to the feeds. And they’re continuously targeted by it.
So were comic books, and rock n’ roll, and dancing, and DnD, and bikinis, and whatever new things the kids are into that scared parents didn’t understand.
None of those were built specifically with algorithms meant to keep people addicted to them. Nobody is arguing that cigarettes are bad for kids and social media is designed in a similar way: to keep people hooked and coming back for more.
If adults are struggling with it, why wouldn’t kids?