18 votes

No, you’re not addicted to social media: What many commentators describe as an addiction is actually a powerful social norm at work. The distinction matters.

9 comments

  1. [9]
    Comment deleted by author
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    1. [3]
      Anwyl
      Link Parent
      What parts helped most with the intuitive understanding of physics? I'm trying to give people an intuitive understanding of relativistic physics, and I'm trying to understand how others learn...

      What parts helped most with the intuitive understanding of physics? I'm trying to give people an intuitive understanding of relativistic physics, and I'm trying to understand how others learn physics intuition from games better.

      3 votes
      1. Sahasrahla
        Link Parent
        (Not the person you replied to.) KSP helped me get a better understanding of orbital mechanics because I could quite literally play around with it. Nothing I do in my ordinary life gives me any...

        (Not the person you replied to.) KSP helped me get a better understanding of orbital mechanics because I could quite literally play around with it. Nothing I do in my ordinary life gives me any intuition for that kind of physics (compared to, say, my intuitive understanding of ballistics from experience I have with throwing things around) but through the game I had a semi-realistic space ship that I was trying to attain certain goals with. I could see why getting to orbit was more than just going straight up because I could do that and see the results and how things behaved. Trying to dock two ships made me think about how different maneuvers changed my orbit and how it effects the position of two satellites relative to each other. Really, that sort of thing is what intuition is all about: you play around with something in a semi-structured manner by trying to reach certain goals and then you get kind of a feel for it, without having to puzzle out every consequence of every action from first principles.

        4 votes
      2. yellow
        Link Parent
        Also not the person you asked, but I would say what makes KSP help with intuiting physics is the ability to increment/decrement values and see the effects instantly. For example, when you're...

        Also not the person you asked, but I would say what makes KSP help with intuiting physics is the ability to increment/decrement values and see the effects instantly. For example, when you're piloting a spacecraft, you can set the heading and throttle up/down with just a few button while watching your orbit being drawn in realtime.

        4 votes
    2. Algernon_Asimov
      Link Parent
      How does this relate to being addicted to social media, or feeling a societal pressure to use social media?

      As I've long said, there's no such activity as "being on your phone/computer". If you don't make the distinction between ...

      How does this relate to being addicted to social media, or feeling a societal pressure to use social media?

      2 votes
    3. teaearlgraycold
      Link Parent
      I'll admit that some of what I do on my phone gives me nothing more than a short burst of endorphins. But for the most part my phone is a newspaper, a novel, a music player, and a lot more. It...

      I'll admit that some of what I do on my phone gives me nothing more than a short burst of endorphins. But for the most part my phone is a newspaper, a novel, a music player, and a lot more. It doesn't help that you look kind of stupid just staring into your hand, but that doesn't mean you're not doing something of value.

      1 vote
    4. [3]
      mrbig
      Link Parent
      I can’t fathom the idea of doing math on my free time...

      I can’t fathom the idea of doing math on my free time...

      1 vote
      1. [2]
        Comment deleted by author
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        1. mrbig
          Link Parent
          I like math too but on my break I’d rather watch Star Trek or something.

          I like math too but on my break I’d rather watch Star Trek or something.

          2 votes
      2. [2]
        Comment deleted by author
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        1. mrbig
          (edited )
          Link Parent
          Sounds more like a job to me, but different strokes for different folks, I guess! :P

          Sounds more like a job to me, but different strokes for different folks, I guess! :P

          1 vote
  2. skullkid2424
    Link
    While an interesting read, theres not much actually backing up the main premise. That...needs citation. Would we say that alcoholics who are tempted to drink at events are not addicted, but are...

    While an interesting read, theres not much actually backing up the main premise.

    The distinction is critical: Whereas addiction is something people experience mostly as individuals, social norms are shared mental states shaped by the views and beliefs of other members of the society and by our subjective perceptions of those beliefs.

    That...needs citation. Would we say that alcoholics who are tempted to drink at events are not addicted, but are just affected my social norms? I certainly wouldn't. You could easily say that the social norm makes the addiction worse or harder to deal with - but that doesn't mean that you aren't addicted. I'd say the same applies to smart phones and this article. Just because all your friends are on social media and that its the social norm doesn't mean you aren't addicted to the dopamine rush of scrolling through and consuming content.

    Framing the issue solely as social media addiction, besides being unhelpful, might in fact hinder social change.

    I'm not certain that it IS being framed solely as a social media addiction. The conversations I've had and discussions I've seen acknowledge that the addiction is in part due to the social pressure to be connected and be on every social media and chat network to talk to all your friends. Thats part of what makes it hard to solve - as the better you are about not being on social media, the more of an "outcast" you might be.

    Overall, changing the societal norms to help with social media consumption is a good idea - but it certainly doesn't negate the idea that people can be addicted to it.

    10 votes