Understanding Social Media Addiction: A Comparison with Other Addictive Products

Addiction Economy Thought for Today - what exactly is it that makes social media addictive?

A new article from us, getting to grips with that question and comparisons with other addictive products - using the framework of our 5 Drivers of the Addiction Economy.

We heard that 'sugar is the nicotine of food' and wondered what was the nicotine of social media. Here is our view.

We outline an analogy with Ultra-Processed Foods which, like Social Media apps, are 'optimised for unfulfillment' and explore how the other drivers create an favourable environment for Social Media.

As Social Media and AI have evolved, we leap on the new harms from a regulatory perspective, but, it seems to us, we then drop the previous interest in how they 'deliberately and unashamedly erode our ability to control our usage of their products beyond the point at which they harm us' - ie addict us. Perhaps it needs a rethink and some particular attention paid to regulating the 5 Economic Drivers of Addiction?