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California parents could soon sue for social media addiction

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Re: California parents could soon sue for social media addiction

#111

Post by heavyset_go »

mc32 wrote: post #86
czhu12 wrote: post #72

Creating regulations like this may end up acting as a regulatory moat for existing social network companies. This probably makes the overall social media pie smaller overall but guarantees incumbents slice of the pie. We've seen this happen in other highly regulated areas such as healthcare, telecommunications, etc. I suspect the way things are trending, in 10 years, very few entrepreneurs would be willing to start a…

On the other hand, we want to prevent new companies forming on the premise they can make money from gamifying their product so much it becomes addictive. Now, addictiveness has to have some definition to be useful. It can't be some odd random user who suffers from some kind of condition that prevents them from self-regulating their particular addiction whereas for example other people don't get addicted. There have t…

I think when companies consult with behavioral, and other, psychologists in order to craft better ways to wring more engagement out of their users, those companies are intentionally making their products addictive. I don't see it as being much different than exploiting the addictive potential of new nicotine salts, or exploiting additives to cigarettes to do the same.

It can be spun however anyone wants to spin it, but at the end of the day, that's exploiting biology to subvert the will of others. And yes, I know this can describe advertising, as well.

Re: California parents could soon sue for social media addiction

#112

Post by falcolas »

dahdum wrote: post #100
falcolas wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have to ask, how is it better to restrict children (not everything you can do with a smartphone is tied to social media) than the corporations that target them, that intentionally create addictive experiences?

Could you define addictive experience? When does an experience cross that (apparently bright?) line? I ask because it looks to me like every restaurant, bar, food producer, video game company, social media company, hotel, cinematic universe, book series author, and basically any consumer product or service is optimizing for repeat business.

You're not wrong. Lots of companies do such optimizations. And some of them are creating virtually identical problems for parents and children.

But one way to tell they're going too far is when they explicitly call out these actions on investor calls, on official blog posts, ex-employees speaking out...

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-media/facebook-documents...

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-28051930

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/facebook-addictive-as-cigarette...

Re: California parents could soon sue for social media addiction

#115

Post by mc32 »

heavyset_go wrote: post #111
mc32 wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the other hand, we want to prevent new companies forming on the premise they can make money from gamifying their product so much it becomes addictive. Now, addictiveness has to have some definition to be useful. It can't be some odd random user who suffers from some kind of condition that prevents them from self-regulating their particular addiction whereas for example other people don't get addicted. There have t…

I think when companies consult with behavioral, and other, psychologists in order to craft better ways to wring more engagement out of their users, those companies are intentionally making their products addictive. I don't see it as being much different than exploiting the addictive potential of new nicotine salts, or exploiting additives to cigarettes to do the same. It can be spun however anyone wants to spin it, b…

Agreed. This is why the "metaverse" needs oversight as well. It will be a new frontier ripe for gamification, explication and general behavioral control.

Re: California parents could soon sue for social media addiction

#116

Post by czhu12 »

heavyset_go wrote: post #94
czhu12 wrote: post #72

Creating regulations like this may end up acting as a regulatory moat for existing social network companies. This probably makes the overall social media pie smaller overall but guarantees incumbents slice of the pie. We've seen this happen in other highly regulated areas such as healthcare, telecommunications, etc. I suspect the way things are trending, in 10 years, very few entrepreneurs would be willing to start a…

If this is a concern, lobby for applying the law to companies or social networks over set sizes. Tangential laws are proposed in the EU that apply to companies with market caps over ~$80 billion, for example[1]. [1] https://www.theverge.com/2022/3/24/22994234/eu-antitrust-leg...

But why do we assume small social media companies are less addictive or harmful than big social media companies?

Re: California parents could soon sue for social media addiction

#117

Post by spc476 »

Calvin02 wrote: post #28
iamcurious wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If only parents could exert some sort of influence or authority over others harming their children. We could call it "sueing".

Why just limit it social media? Why not also include video games, streaming services, movies, etc.?

There are age restrictions on casinos. And we have a rating system for movies and games to inform adults about the content.

Re: California parents could soon sue for social media addiction

#118

Post by heavyset_go »

czhu12 wrote: post #116
heavyset_go wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If this is a concern, lobby for applying the law to companies or social networks over set sizes. Tangential laws are proposed in the EU that apply to companies with market caps over ~$80 billion, for example[1]. [1] https://www.theverge.com/2022/3/24/22994234/eu-antitrust-leg...

But why do we assume small social media companies are less addictive or harmful than big social media companies?

I was just pointing out an option that addressed the OP's concern. I don't personally assume that.

Re: California parents could soon sue for social media addiction

#119

Post by efields »

Raising the age minimum on digital services from 13 to 16 or 17 would probably fix a lot of the ills caused by it. And/or teach media literacy from a young age.

And anyone here who reduces teenage digital addictions to “bad parenting” can pound sand. Nothing about parenting is simply the result of “the parents” and their methods. Raising a child is an impossibly multi-variate occupation and you only have so many knobs to turn and hours in the day.

Re: California parents could soon sue for social media addiction

#120

Post by sneak »

efields wrote: post #119

Raising the age minimum on digital services from 13 to 16 or 17 would probably fix a lot of the ills caused by it. And/or teach media literacy from a young age. And anyone here who reduces teenage digital addictions to “bad parenting” can pound sand. Nothing about parenting is simply the result of “the parents” and their methods. Raising a child is an impossibly multi-variate occupation and you only have so many knob…

As long as parents can deny their children digital devices, the ills of the use of same can be assigned to the choices of the parents.
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