
Ask HN: Is the comparison of social media to drugs a hyperbolized one? - moretai
Is our obsession with social media akin to us being hooked on heroin? If that is the case, why isn&#x27;t this a much more serious issue? Aren&#x27;t we all doped up then?<p>Or is this just fear mongering?
======
trebor
I don't think comparing social media to drug addiction is hyperbole. But, I do
think that the conversation is often phrased poorly. I believe that our
standards for social media addiction are _too low_.

The reasons we worry about drug addictions all apply to social media
addictions. Worse, the social media platforms are (eventually, if not
intentionally) structured in a way to exploit human psychology. If social
media is: exploitative, addictive, intrusive, can cause physical/mental harm,
can influence behavior negatively, and so on... then why shouldn't we talk
about it like it's a drug?

I haven't seen my friends thrown out on the street because of social media.
But...

...I've had them zone out of a serious conversation to check their social
media.

...I've had to call a friend, because they wouldn't stop texting me while
driving.

...I've watched friends with social media tear each other apart due to
differing political opinions during the last election--although they were
polite when in person.

...I've watched a couple sit on a bench facing away from each other, on their
phones instead of talking to each other.

In the USA alone, 9 people die and >1,000 people are injured _daily_ due to
distracted driving.[1] The NHTSA reports that 3,450 deaths due to distracted
driving in 2016 alone, and an estimated 391,000 were injured.[2] How many of
these people, predominantly in their teens and early 20s, would be alive
today? The government doesn't distinguish between texting and driving, and
posting to social media and driving, but I'd love to know how prevalent the
2nd is.

And yet, social media use is still socially acceptable--even when
inappropriate to the situation, or addiction/level of use.

[1]:
[https://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/distracted_driving/in...](https://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/distracted_driving/index.html)

[2]: [https://www.nhtsa.gov/risky-driving/distracted-
driving](https://www.nhtsa.gov/risky-driving/distracted-driving)

(Edit: formatting)

------
yasp
I'm not aware of people committing crimes to fuel their social media habits.

