Genesis
Response
Penultimate
Finale
January 6th, 2021
Dr Lembke says so much about addiction you might think the question was, “Is social media addictive?”
There are social media addicts among us, she says—a condition so serious that it robs its victims of the capacity not to use social media, and because of that, it’s fair to say their minds have been hijacked.
Let’s agree that there are social media addicts—people who have the pathology she describes and the corresponding symptoms.
Even if we concede this, her conclusion follows only if we accept two further claims:
(1) social media addicts lose the power to choose not to use social media, and
(2) if they lose that power, their minds have been hijacked.
Both claims are false.
Dr Lembke emphasizes what social media addiction has in common with other addictions. But there are differences too.
Not all addictions are created equal. Even if we admit that addiction impairs people’s abilities to choose not to use a substance or engage in a behavior, that impairment comes in degrees.
If people have trouble controlling their social media use, they don’t lose control to the same degree that alcoholics or heroin addicts do. Dr Lembke admits this, and the treatment she recommends (namely abstinence) shows that social media addicts are more empowered than other addicts. They can put down their phones in a way that, say, alcoholics can’t put down the bottle.
But let’s pretend for the sake of argument that social media can be a constant—even compulsive, even harmful—distraction for some people. Even if that were true, it still wouldn’t follow that people’s minds are being hijacked.
Hijacking implies a loss of control, but not every loss of control is an instance of hijacking. If you drive too fast on ice, skid, and crash, you’ve lost control. But your car hasn’t been hijacked.
Tech critics (like Tristan Harris in the movie The Social Dilemma) like the term “hijacking” for its shock value and power to create fear and moral panic. But let’s be clear what hijacking is: an illegal act of seizing control of something against the will of its rightful operator.
Hijacking is what terrorists did to kill thousands on 9/11. It’s not mismanaging your internet browsing habits, spending too much time scrolling on Facebook, or staying up late playing Fortnite.
Using social media apps isn’t illegal; people are not forced to use the apps against their wills, and they’re free to moderate how they use them.
All of this shows that “hijacking” is a complete misnomer. It’s good drama, but a bad description of reality—and a disempowering one! It suggests that people are helpless to help themselves—that they can’t take reasonable steps to integrate social media into their lives more responsibly.
That message is not only false; it’s harmful. I hope Dr Lembke can agree.
2 Comments
Jul 20
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Dec 27
I kept thinking that Nir had a bone to pick, and here we have it in the completely underwhelming "finale".
If Nir had been alive in 399 B.C.E., he would have condemned Socrates to death or banishment.
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