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Comment by authoritarian | Hacker News Reader

Yes, it's absolutely an addiction. I constantly hear people talk about how they can't leave facebook because they'll lose connections with friends and/or family, won't be able to find out about events, or will somehow otherwise be missing out on life. I deleted my account 7 or so years ago and the impact on my life has only been positive

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The emotionally charged downvotes from the people that are addicted to facebook will do nothing to change the fact that it IS addicting. It is literally designed to get you addicted, and it's clearly working

Didn't downvote, but I do disagree. There is some kind of compulsive behavior, but I wouldn't describe it as addiction. I've used FB quite regularly and have never felt compelled to return when away from it, or even missed it remotely when I don't have time to check it or don't have signal. A couple weeks ago I uninstalled it and again there is no compulsion, no absence felt. I don't even check in on my iPad when I get home.

When I had it convenient to check, I would pop on during downtime, now it's just gone. I do check HN more often so maybe it's just a general social media itch.

I appreciate that you respond and explain why you disagree rather than simply downvoting and moving on. However, Facebook, and other similar sites, are literally designed to be addictive. Many of the founders of some of the largest social media, and other SV tech, companies took classes that focus on making an app/service/product addictive. You may personally not feel addicted, but that doesn't change the fact that these companies specifically abuse psychological processes and reactions to make their products addictive to the average user. There are a ton of articles on the subject. It may be easier for some to leave than others, but that doesn't mean these companies don't purposely make it psychologically challenging to leave for many. Here are a few articles on the topic

https://www.livescience.com/49585-facebook-addiction-viewed-...

https://www.wired.com/story/phone-addiction-formula/

https://neuroscience.stanford.edu/news/just-how-bad-kids-sma...

https://www.1843magazine.com/features/the-scientists-who-mak...

Why does this matter? Pornhub is addictive, probably on a much deeper level than Facebook. No one criticizes Pornhub. Reddit is addictive, no one criticizes Reddit. Videogames are addictive. No one says we should ban videogames or take legal action against them. Even if people do criticize these things, they don't criticize them the same way they criticize Facebook.

I think FB has added more to the world (wealth, high tech jobs, open source technology, places for people to organize, ways for people to connect) than it has taken away in the form of FB addiction and manipulative ads.

The masses have always had their bread and circuses. I don't see why a new digital variation is any worse than existing forms of mindless entertainment.

Your 3rd sentence seems unrelated to the 2nd.

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