undefined | Better HN

0 pointsKarawebnetwork3y ago0 comments

> Unpopular opinion: Social media is a great scapegoat, but it is not the source of the problem.

It's the War On Drugs all over again.

We understand addiction enough to be able to say that a person's mental, emotional, and psychosocial states are the greatest causes of addiction and not the drug itself.

Social media leads to an increase in a cortisol and dopamine. It also increased oxytocin by a large margin. Behaviors linked to its use are similar to that of other substances that increase those hormones directly.

0 comments

avisser3y ago

I think I know what you are saying, but I think you're misusing the war on drugs as a rhetorical device. I think you're just talking about treating the symptoms of addicts rather than looking at the causes.

The phrase "war on drugs," at least to me, is about all the collateral damage caused by criminalizing drugs. No one is criminalizing Facebook usage.

naravara3y ago

Social media also impacts people's mental, emotional, and psychosocial states as well as their relationships to many of the people in their communities. So it both hits the hormonal triggers AND the social support systems.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse