[rmah]

Um, I use social media "responsibly" and it's quite easy. I look at various social media sites I'm on perhaps two or three times a week. Takes up maybe 30 minutes of my time a week. I feel no addictive urge to use them more. Most people I know may use them a bit more, but not much. The only adults that I know who use social media a lot more do it for work.

I submit that the majority of adults use social media sites are using them "responsibly" (i.e. occasionally and non-obsessively). My opinion (with no real evidence) is that the addictiveness is overblown for most adults.

[tharne]

Perhaps we run in different circles. I constantly notice compulsive smart phone use. At work it's very common to see 8 people load into an elevator and like clockwork 6 or 7 of them will instantly pull out their phones.

Any little piece of downtime where folks might have to be alone with their thoughts, or make small talk with people they don't already know, you can see people mindlessly grabbing their phones. You see this in line at the grocery store, kids and adults in school while do this while class starts, or the very second it ends.

You see a shocking number of people in restaurants who appear to be on dates where both people are glued to their phone. I'd certainly classify that as addictive behavior -- i.e. when a healthy young man is more interested in what's on his phone than he is in the attractive woman sitting across the table from him. Something is very wrong there.

[adkadskhj]

So i agreed with you until:

> I'd certainly classify that as addictive behavior -- i.e. when a healthy young man is more interested in what's on his phone than he is in the attractive woman sitting across the table from him. Something is very wrong there.

We can definitely debate online life vs "in the flesh" - but it seems small minded to me for you to suggest someones preferences for experience are only the result of unhealthy addiction.

Many would argue your allowance of modern life, from TVs to cars to in city restaurants/etc. That you (or that person, i guess) didn't make a home cooked meal, or go experience nature together - to be an addiction to the modern and lacking in down to earth, honest and real connections.

Not that i agree with any of that of course. My point is that i think there is a perfectly valid possible course where someone prefers to experience their life in cities, in the woods, or in more virtual spaces.

The reality though, and where i agree with you - is that i don't think we actually have a virtual space that _isn't_ fueled entirely be addiction. Powered by highly financed and motivated teams of people.

I just think we need to be cognizant of alternative life styles. Just because commonly certain lifestyles result in unhealthy behavior doesn't inherently mean that lifestyle shouldn't be followed at all. If that was the case i think this argument should probably switch to avoiding much of modern life. As it is full of unhealthy habits and poor balances. We'll be living in the woods pretty soon if we can't recognize the possible healthy and balanced ways to live in the unhealthy-unbalanced minefield that is so many alternate forms of life.

[ed_elliott_asc]

Im doing it at this exact moment!

[httpsterio]

Phone use is ubiquitous and people are glued to their screens even when walking down the street or talking with their family.

Our opinions are being shaped by all sorts of propaganda we encounter on every corner online and it has never been easier to end up radicalized. I think it's definitely not under control.

[jjulius]

There is a lot of "I" and "my" usage in your post. I submit that you're only arriving at your conclusion anecdotally, using a dataset (you and your like-minded peers, whose use you can't actually track) that is not reflective of average users worldwide.

[everdrive]

You could say the same for overeating, or drinking too much. Some people have no issue with overeating, but at least in America most people are too fat. ie, they cannot intake calories responsibly.

[tharne]

When something involves a small percentage of the population, it's typically an individual issue/failure. When it becomes the vast majority of people, like in the case of obesity, you have to seriously consider that the issue is in large part systemic. I seriously doubt, for instance, that in the last 20-30 years, 80% of the American population suddenly woke up and lost all willpower when it comes to food, especially now that the obesity problem appears to be spreading to other countries.

[542354234235]

>My opinion (with no real evidence)

Here is some actual evidence.

> Across mobile devices and computers, GlobalWebIndex reports that we now spend an average of 2 hours and 24 minutes per person, per day using social media [1] (in the US, it is 2:03)

[1] https://wearesocial.com/blog/2020/01/digital-2020-3-8-billio...

[throwaway413]

“Perhaps two or three times a week, maybe 30 min”

Post your usage stats. No need to guess about it when you can look it up in an instant and verify.