Are social networks addictive? – 10/27/2023 – Tech

A group of 41 states and the District of Columbia (Washington) filed suit on Tuesday (24) against Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, alleging that the company knowingly used resources in its platforms to make children use them compulsively, even when the company claimed that the networks were safe for young people.

“Meta leveraged powerful and unprecedented technologies to attract, engage, and ultimately ensnare young people and teenagers,” the states said in the lawsuit filed in federal court. “Your goal is profit.”

The accusations in the lawsuit raise a deeper question about behavior — are young people becoming addicted to social media and the internet? Here’s what the research found.

What makes social media so captivating?

Experts who study the internet say the magnetic pull of social media comes from the way the content plays on our impulses and neurological connections, so that consumers find it difficult to tear themselves away from the constant flow of information.

David Greenfield, a psychologist and founder of the Internet and Technology Addiction Center in West Hartford, Connecticut, said the devices lure users in with powerful tactics. One of them is “intermittent reinforcement”, which creates the idea that the user can receive a reward at any time.

But when the reward arrives is unpredictable. “Just like a slot machine,” she said. Users are attracted to lights and sounds, but, even more powerfully, to information and rewards tailored to the user’s interests and tastes.

Adults are susceptible, he noted, but young people are particularly at risk because the regions of the brain involved in resisting temptation and reward are not as developed in children and adolescents as they are in adults. “Young people are completely impulsive and have little control over that impulse,” Greenfield said.

Additionally, he said the teenage brain is especially attuned to social connections, and “social media is a perfect opportunity to connect with others.”

Meta responded to the lawsuit by saying it has taken many steps to support families and teenagers.

“We are disappointed that instead of working productively with companies across the industry to create clear, age-appropriate standards for the apps teens use, attorneys general chose this path,” the company said in a statement.

Is compulsion the same as addiction?

For many years, the scientific community generally linked addiction to substances, such as drugs, rather than behaviors, such as gambling or internet use. This changed gradually.

In 2013, the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders), the official reference for mental illnesses, introduced the idea of ​​online gaming addiction, but stated that more studies were needed before the condition could be formally confirmed. .

A subsequent study explored broadening the definition of “internet addiction.” Its author suggested further exploring diagnostic criteria and language, noting, for example, that terms like “problematic use” and even the word “internet” were open to broad interpretations, given the many ways that information and its delivery can take over.

Dr. Michael Rich, director of the Digital Wellbeing Lab at Boston Children’s Hospital, said he discouraged the use of the word “addiction” because the internet, if used effectively and with limits, was not only helpful but also essential for everyday life.

“I prefer the term ‘problematic use of internet media,'” he said, a term that has gained popularity in recent years.

Greenfield agrees that there are valuable uses for the internet and that the definition of how much is too much can vary. But he said there were also clear cases where excessive use interferes with school, sleep and other vital aspects of a healthy life.

Many young consumers “can’t let go,” he said. “The internet is a giant syringe, and the content, including social networks like Meta, are psychoactive drugs.”