Facebook And Google Accused Of Hooking KIDS On Social Media

A group of tech experts who used to work at companies like Facebook and Google has founded an organization to raise awareness about what they believe are the negative effects of social media on society.  This particularly pertains to children and how easily they become addicted to technology.

But children aren’t the only one who are susceptible to social media’s addictive properties. This has nothing to do with “Russian collusion” or “election meddling.”  Social media has been proven to be addictive and the “serotonin feedback loop” makes many think they have a reality-based life; when really, loneliness and addiction prevail.

If you cannot go without a week glancing at a social media newsfeed, you could be suffering from a serious addiction manipulated by the social media tech giants.  And sadly, children and the mentally weak and immature are the most susceptible.

USA Today reported that the former Facebook and Google employees and investors who helped build the services used by billions are now putting pressure on the technology giants to make their products less addictive, particularly for kids. The education campaign, called the Truth About Tech, comes as scrutiny grows of the mental health consequences of using these services and recent criticism of companies for targeting young people with kids’ versions of their products.

“They’ve created the attention economy and are now engaged in a full-blown arms race to capture and retain human attention, including the attention of kids. Technologists, engineers, and designers have the power and responsibility to hold themselves accountable and build products that create a better world,” Tristan Harris, the former Google design ethicist who will serve as a senior fellow at Common Sense, said in a statement. Of course, this also means that those already susceptible to addiction and those exhibiting mentally unhealthy behaviors will succumb to the social media’s appealing qualities.

The challenges to tech giants come amid a broader backlash from Washington lawmakers and from within its own ranks. In November, Sean Parker, the founding president of Facebook, took aim at Facebook in an interview with Axios, saying he and other executives created a “social-validation feedback loop” to make Facebook psychologically addictive.

Should there be more government regulation of social media? Absolutly not. But humans should be left to thrive or watch their lives be taken over by social media in the same manner which a drug addict should be allowed to chose to get help or remain addicted to a drug. Awareness is the key here; not prohibition.