[microcolonel]

> Face it, humans (you, me, bigshot CEOs) all act primarily based on simple emotional wants and desires, most of the time.

Some people are mentally disabled and can not regulate a desire to use Facebook, but if you tell all the able people that they're incapable of reasoning themselves out of it, they will become less able.

Facebook works on network effects, if people still healthy enough to quit can do so, Facebook becomes inherently less attractive. If you tell people that they are inevitably ruled by their passions, many will just take the faustian bargain and hope somebody swoops in to save them from themselves.

I don't think this is a good strategy, especially if you're not proposing any actual solution (and no, swift legislation is not a practical way to deal with this situation, given how divisive that is).

[mercer]

Focusing on willpower and self-empowerment is a great strategy when applied to oneself. When applied to others it's often 1) shitty 2) self-congratulatory, 3) lacking in empathy and ignorant of the particulars of another's situation, and 4) useless, because clearly these others seem to not find themselves able to do that thing that you are able to do.

Generally speaking, being shamed or otherwise punished is counter-effective when it comes to changing something, especially when it comes to addictions of various kinds.

There's a huge difference between on the one hand a friend telling you that you can do it, and offering help and strategies, and on the other hand a shitty internet commenter telling you that you're simply not trying hard enough.

Tough love has its time and place, but usually it mostly benefits the giver of it.