"You're probably online, and you've probably got a problem, but it isn't your fault. That's the thrust of recent lawsuits against social media companies, arguing that such platforms are deliberately designed to hook young Americans. At a California court last month, a lawyer for a now-20-year-old female plaintiff laid into YouTube and Instagram as "addiction machines"."
"In a recent analysis of thousands of articles published between November 2021 and November 2024 across major US news outlets, we found that the term "social media addiction" appeared roughly 90 times as often as the less pathologising "social media habit"."
Recent lawsuits against social media companies characterize platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube as deliberately designed addiction machines targeting young users. Media coverage overwhelmingly uses pathologizing language, with the term "social media addiction" appearing roughly 90 times more frequently than the neutral term "social media habit" in major US news outlets between November 2021 and November 2024. This framing places responsibility on individual users rather than examining platform design practices. The addiction narrative, while emotionally compelling, may actually hinder productive discussion about how these platforms operate and what regulatory changes are needed to address genuine concerns about their impact on young people.
#social-media-addiction #platform-design #media-framing #youth-mental-health #regulatory-accountability
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