Jeff JarvisApr 14, 2023
Oh, FFS. Orgasms cause dopamine. So do apples, bananas, oranges, and watermelon. Ban them all! Then can we ban the adrenaline raised by Jonathan Haidt's #MoralPanics?
Fareed Zakaria: TikTok is dangerously addictive. We should regulate it now. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/04/14/tiktok-teens-mental-health-regulation/
TikTok is dangerously addictive. We should regulate it now.

The popular app is tied to declines in teenagers' mental health.

The Washington Post
Show threadMark W. Gabby-Li 🐌Apr 14, 2023

@jeffjarvis
The addictive nature of social media is a great argument to regulate it, but why are we only doing this now with TikTok?

(FYI I think TikTok is a national security issue, but this is still pretty selective criticism.)

Show threadJeff JarvisApr 14, 2023
@Aradayn
No, it's not. Novels have been accused of addicting readers. All media have been accused of addiction--indeed, that is where the attention-based business model came from. But you don't see media foreswearing clickbait headlines, subscriptions, and cliffhangers. I find cheese doodles addictive. I will take care of that myself, thank you very much. No need to nanny us all.
Show threadJeff Jarvis
@Aradayn
Oh, for God's sake, now I see you are a game designer. Who has been accused of addiction for decades? Game designers. Glass house, mate.
Apr 14, 2023 at 7:09pmWeb
Show threadMark W. Gabby-Li 🐌Apr 14, 2023

@jeffjarvis
Mastodon is a great example of social media that doesn't employ a team of behavioral psychologists to increase "engagement."

The main tool of addiction on these websites (and games with loot boxes etc, good point) is variable reward schedules, which produce the same type of compulsive behavior that you see in gamblers.