Alli's Blog A collection of writings

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger is being sued by a majority of the country. A group of 41 states claims that Meta knowling used features on their platforms to cause children to use them compulsively, according to The New York Times. 

The lawsuit filed in federal court stated, “Meta has harnessed powerful and unprecedented technologies to entice, engage and ultimately ensnare youth and teens.” The states claim the goal of keeping children on social media is to make a profit. 

David Greenfield, a psychologist and founder of the Center for Internet and Technology Addiction in West Hartford, Conn. talks about how intermittent reinforcement makes social media compelling. Users realize that at any time they could be “rewarded” for scrolling, Greenfield claims. The reward isn’t a cookie like people usually think when they hear the term intermittent reinforcement. The reward is a bit of interesting information. It makes the user think that they will gain something if they continue scrolling. The rewards come randomly, but often enough to give the scroller hope that there will be another one soon. 

Greenfield adds that adults can fight the temptation better than younger social media users. “They’re all about impulse and not a lot about the control of that impulse,” Dr. Greenfield says of young users. The young brain likes to make connections with others and social media is a perfect place to meet new people. 

According to the New York Times, the word “addiction” has traditionally been used to describe use of substances and in recent years, the definition has shifted to include behaviors as well. Dr. Michael Rich, the director of the Digital Wellness Lab at Boston Children’s Hospital, discourages using the word “addiction” while talking about behaviors, especially social media use. “I prefer the term ‘Problematic Internet Media Use,” he said.