5 ms·

As someone who's recovered from multiple substance addictions in the past, it is so painfully obvious when I see social media addicts. It's literally the exact

As someone who's recovered from multiple substance addictions in the past, it is so painfully obvious when I see social media addicts. It's literally the exact same behavior. The compulsion, the lack of awareness, the ignoring of friends and loved ones while mindlessly scrolling; it's all there. Social addiction is even more sinister because the feedback loop is scientifically optimized in a way no substance could ever match, and it feeds the most base primal need that humans have which is status and recognition. It's more powerful than even hunger. I don't know how we can possibly get away from this.

nonameiguess 5y ago
I'm pretty sure there are substances that can match whatever addictive qualities you get from reading a screen. My best friend from high school died while detoxing from alcohol. I'm reasonably sure social media withdrawal is not physically dangerous.
haolez 5y ago
No substance could ever match? More powerful than hunger? I strongly challenge that.
- ramesh31 5y ago
  >No substance could ever match? If you plot the area under the curve of addictive behavior engaged in over a lifetime, absolutely. People can quit substance addictions. You know that your addiction is harming you and actively destroying your life while you are engaged in it. Those feelings eventually lead most people to quit if they don't die. But social addiction is different. It feels like you're actually doing something useful and good, while it rots away your agency and sense of self. You become a mindless scroller whose tastes, preferences, ideologies, and overall cultural milieu become entirely mediated through engagement algorithms without you ever being aware of it.
- zepto 5y ago
  It’s a pretty reasonable hypothesis. Social drives are innate and are likely at least as powerful the drive for food, and may be prioritized higher.
- wuliwong 5y ago
  I would think a strong challenge would contain _some_ rebuttal?
  - speedybird 5y ago
    When people get hungry enough, they become willing to eat even their friends and family.
- Barrin92 5y ago
  Having spent a fair amount of time in internet cafes in my youth I can tell you certainly I have seen my fair share of people who have neglected sleep as well as sustenance and some fairly other fundamental drives to consume digital media for at times days without pause.
  - haolez 5y ago
    Oh, I get it now. I remember that some years ago I saw some news about a Korean kid that died from playing a game for three days in a row, without sleeping.
smsm42 5y ago
If you ever heard about Maslow hierarchy, the status is way towards the top. Things like hunger, safety and not being in pain is much lower. So I highly doubt many people would forgo food and agree to be in constant excruciating pain just to be able to access facebook.
- Geee 5y ago
  I think more reasonable stance would be that addicted people stop caring about what they eat, and prioritize time spent on Facebook instead of time spent on cooking better food.
- betwixthewires 5y ago
  Have you ever met a nutrient deficient heroin, crack or meth addict? I'd be willing to bet those habits are closer to the top than food, but they seem to forego it and take that as far as they can without dying. We are talking about addiction here after all.
  - smsm42 5y ago
    Those are physiological addictions that literally rewire your body chemistry and how your brain perceives reality. There's addiction and there's addiction.
    - betwixthewires 5y ago
      What do you think happens to you when you love, when you hate, when you feel rejected, appreciated, embraced, venerated, when you feel like you're being venerated without effort, you may feel like you're cheating and get a rise of it, or feel guilty from it, but in every case there's an endocrine response. All of these chemical pathways are triggered by the hollow nonexistent social interactions, it can be an emotional rollercoaster and at the core is stimulation by endogenous compounds that can also be chemically addictive. You're finding a distinction that simply isn't there.
      - 5y ago

nonameiguess 5y ago

I'm pretty sure there are substances that can match whatever addictive qualities you get from reading a screen. My best friend from high school died while detoxing from alcohol. I'm reasonably sure social media withdrawal is not physically dangerous.

haolez 5y ago

No substance could ever match? More powerful than hunger? I strongly challenge that.

ramesh31 5y ago
>No substance could ever match? If you plot the area under the curve of addictive behavior engaged in over a lifetime, absolutely. People can quit substance addictions. You know that your addiction is harming you and actively destroying your life while you are engaged in it. Those feelings eventually lead most people to quit if they don't die. But social addiction is different. It feels like you're actually doing something useful and good, while it rots away your agency and sense of self. You become a mindless scroller whose tastes, preferences, ideologies, and overall cultural milieu become entirely mediated through engagement algorithms without you ever being aware of it.
zepto 5y ago
It’s a pretty reasonable hypothesis. Social drives are innate and are likely at least as powerful the drive for food, and may be prioritized higher.
wuliwong 5y ago
I would think a strong challenge would contain _some_ rebuttal?
- speedybird 5y ago
  When people get hungry enough, they become willing to eat even their friends and family.
Barrin92 5y ago
Having spent a fair amount of time in internet cafes in my youth I can tell you certainly I have seen my fair share of people who have neglected sleep as well as sustenance and some fairly other fundamental drives to consume digital media for at times days without pause.
- haolez 5y ago
  Oh, I get it now. I remember that some years ago I saw some news about a Korean kid that died from playing a game for three days in a row, without sleeping.

smsm42 5y ago

If you ever heard about Maslow hierarchy, the status is way towards the top. Things like hunger, safety and not being in pain is much lower. So I highly doubt many people would forgo food and agree to be in constant excruciating pain just to be able to access facebook.

Geee 5y ago
I think more reasonable stance would be that addicted people stop caring about what they eat, and prioritize time spent on Facebook instead of time spent on cooking better food.
betwixthewires 5y ago
Have you ever met a nutrient deficient heroin, crack or meth addict? I'd be willing to bet those habits are closer to the top than food, but they seem to forego it and take that as far as they can without dying. We are talking about addiction here after all.
- smsm42 5y ago
  Those are physiological addictions that literally rewire your body chemistry and how your brain perceives reality. There's addiction and there's addiction.
  - betwixthewires 5y ago
    What do you think happens to you when you love, when you hate, when you feel rejected, appreciated, embraced, venerated, when you feel like you're being venerated without effort, you may feel like you're cheating and get a rise of it, or feel guilty from it, but in every case there's an endocrine response. All of these chemical pathways are triggered by the hollow nonexistent social interactions, it can be an emotional rollercoaster and at the core is stimulation by endogenous compounds that can also be chemically addictive. You're finding a distinction that simply isn't there.
    - 5y ago