This is heartening news. We are finally approaching the moment where addictive social media is handled with the same seriousness with which big tobacco was treated.
Like how "dumb" past generations were for putting lead in gasoline.
The world wide web was the new medium, social media is the attention grabbing (and addictive for some) hook that enables a couple of large corporations to charge more for advertising impressions.
History is full of all kinds of examples.
But if it slows careers, we also have to reckon it creates careers and side-jobs (« Instagram model », « journalist », ...).
I doubt it. Before social media, people were playing solitaire on their computers. Before that, they were standing around the water cooler gossiping. Slacking off and procrastinating are nothing new.
The issue with social media is that it is specifically designed to distract and grab attention, and the information they use is mostly gossip crowd sourced by their users to sell advertising against.
There needs to be some real education about how to use social media responsibly during schooling, and the companies also need some strong regulation to stop the exploitation.
The harm done is similar to gambling in my view and needs to be regulated in a similar way. Some people have the self restraint to log off and focus on real life, for others it is an addiction.
Did solitaire buy and kill FreeCell to prevent its popularity from surpassing it’s own?
If anything I think there's a massive need for individuals to regulate their own social media. Since I know these things can actively harm me, I don't use social media or online dating. But I also wouldn't pass laws stopping people from using this stuff.
It's like eating junk food, sure the world would be a better place if no one ate McDonald's, but everyone has a right to eat as many big Macs they want to