Facebook, Google manipulate kids

[DanOregon]

Surprised not to see a thread on this. Maybe it gets overturned, maybe it doesn't. Maybe 50 state attorneys general decide to join the feeding frenzy. But there is definitely blood in the water.
Meta and YouTube found liable in social media addiction trial

I have no doubt that Facebook and YouTube aim to hold on to users as long as possible. And while I concede that on a "macro" level, their impact has harmed society with regard to social interactions, I believe the user(s) should realize, nobody makes them click, or scroll down. It's not like this is Clockwork Orange.
I realize I'm from a different generation, and of a profession that always seeks a second source on "facts" place in front of me, but I have to ask the question, why would you still use a product that makes you feel so awful and damages your self-esteem?

 

[FileNotFound]

Surprised not to see a thread on this. Maybe it gets overturned, maybe it doesn't. Maybe 50 state attorneys general decide to join the feeding frenzy. But there is definitely blood in the water.
Meta and YouTube found liable in social media addiction trial

I have no doubt that Facebook and YouTube aim to hold on to users as long as possible. And while I concede that on a "macro" level, their impact has harmed society with regard to social interactions, I believe the user(s) should realize, nobody makes them click, or scroll down. It's not like this is Clockwork Orange.
I realize I'm from a different generation, and of a profession that always seeks a second source on "facts" place in front of me, but I have to ask the question, why would you still use a product that makes you feel so awful and damages your self-esteem?

50 million heroin addicts wonder that too. As do god knows how many cigarette smokers, and alcoholics.

Academic studies have shown that social media and other online products are scientifically designed to appeal to the part of the brain that releases dopamine.

In 2015 or so, I was recommended the book “Hooked,” by Nir Eyal. The person who recommended this book to me was at the time a product manager at the Washington Post, in charge of digital news products.

The book was about just that — how to make your digital product appealing so that people keep coming back to it, developing a habit that keeps them subscribed. (Hint: It wasn’t about great content, or more agate.)

To paraphrase Omar: “You got pixels. I got a needle. It’s all in the game.”

 

[Here me roar]

Surprised not to see a thread on this. Maybe it gets overturned, maybe it doesn't. Maybe 50 state attorneys general decide to join the feeding frenzy. But there is definitely blood in the water.
Meta and YouTube found liable in social media addiction trial

I have no doubt that Facebook and YouTube aim to hold on to users as long as possible. And while I concede that on a "macro" level, their impact has harmed society with regard to social interactions, I believe the user(s) should realize, nobody makes them click, or scroll down. It's not like this is Clockwork Orange.
I realize I'm from a different generation, and of a profession that always seeks a second source on "facts" place in front of me, but I have to ask the question, why would you still use a product that makes you feel so awful and damages your self-esteem?

That story is behind a paywall, but aren't we talking about children, wasn't that what the trial was for? Adults can't walk away from this s*** how do you expect children to be able to make the decision to do that?

 

[Neutral Corner]

They do the same thing in computer games. There are pretty precise measurements of how often the user needs to get a dopamine hit from success for maximum engagement. It's part of why games on phones and PC's are so good at retaining their players, both adults and children.

 

[MisterCreosote]

Wonder if this is related to Meta’s plan to cut 20 percent of its workforce.

 

[Neutral Corner]

I suspect that's an AI driven expense cut.

 

[Driftwood]

Now do cable news and talk radio.

 

[Deskgrunt50]

The entire business model is addiction. And it’s proven to be destructive to society.

 

[FileNotFound]

The entire business model is addiction. And it’s proven to be destructive to society.

Addiction and extraction. Which of course go hand in hand.

 

[playthrough]

I filled out a form in a class-action lawsuit against Instagram on a whim, google that for yourselves. I can't lie and say it made me depressed or suicidal, but one of the boxes to check was "insomnia" so, yeah, sure, I'll blame doomscrolling on that.

 

[DanOregon]

First they came for Facebook and I said nothing.
Then they came for Sportsjournalists.com.

I mean this site has made me addicted to finding the perfect GIF to respond to a post. That's gotta be worth $7 or $8 right?

I do wonder if this could translate to other platforms. Nobody is going to accuse newspapers of being addicting, but Fox News has been shouting about the war for America's Soul ever since it started. We've already had confessed murderers talk about their conservative media intake, how they felt "urged to action" etc.