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> This article makes it sound like people are forced to be social addicts. I think "forced to be social addicts" is a misreading of the article. I think a mor
by Lionsion 8y ago
> This article makes it sound like people are forced to be social addicts.
I think "forced to be social addicts" is a misreading of the article. I think a more accurate rephrase is that "people are manipulated to be social addicts."
This essay is basically:
1. Statement of the problem, including exposure of some misleading narratives.
2. Advice to avoid being manipulated by technology and media, including but not limited to social media.
3. A heuristic for separating the media wheat from the media chaff (exploit survivorship)
- sebringj 8y agoDo you believe that we are manipulated to be addicts? There are real addicts with genetic reasons for being so and then there are the rest of us that can control our behavior. Our behavior can be manipulated but we are not going to be addicts from that. More of a waking up and tuning out rather than a withdrawal I would think but this isn't me arguing, just commenting as its an interesting topic and I value your input on it.
- Lionsion 8y ago> Do you believe that we are manipulated to be addicts? I believe the companies do their best to try (under the banner of metric-driven "engagement"), but people experience the addiction to varying degrees, with varying degrees of disruption. Some people are certainly more susceptible than others. You see the same thing with substance addiction, an addict can vary from a fully functional smoker to a homeless meth-addict whose lost their teeth. I think this is true with social media as well. I don't think I'm too susceptible to addiction, but at times I've caught myself getting into habitual use of social media based on some of its reinforcement mechanisms.