this post was submitted on 31 Oct 2026
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It's not that simple, sadly. It's curated and designed to drag you in, social media is slightlymore obvious about it, but everything has an app with bells and whistles to drag you in (look at our adds, buy our stuff, pay a subscription) ,. Plus addiction is real. If everyone drinks in every spare moment, how do you tell if you're an alcoholic, but replace alcohol with phone.
Sure, when I say these things are simple, I don't necessarily mean they're easy. None-the-less, it is down to each individual to control their behaviour. Having supportive people around you undoubtedly helps, but no algorithm can actually control your behaviour unless you permit it to.
I mean, that's literally addiction though, when you can't control your behaviour. I had a feeling the algorithms were intense, but reading the stuff from the Facebook whistle-blower really opened my eyes eve further.
They have studied how to force the human brain to stay attached. To summarise the Facebook stuff they figured out you stay stuck to the screen if they bombard you with anxiety ridden content. And then they monopolise a system of communication businesses and schools use (I'm not ok with the fact businesses and schools use Facebook).
I get it, community noticeboard and it's an easy way into a business web page if you don't have capital to hire someone. It's a mess. But yeah, there's a reason why most people who are, say, alcoholics have to stay away from bars or parties where people are drinking, Facebook is designed to attach to certain parts of your brain and keep you stuck, and people out there are using it in such a way you still have to engage.
I definitely felt the algorithms effects on me when I left reddit and came here. Seeking that dopamine deep scroll, that just isn't here. I'm so grateful for that, this being a place to detox and doesn't have a malicious algorithm. But all in all, the human brain is hugely pliable and easily manipulated (or targeted advertising wouldn't be such a big business) I don't believe it's in any way fitting to blame the person engaging with purposefully manipulative content that's designed to trap you. I don't think it's not possible to break free and detox, and I agree with you it's hard, really hard. I just don't agree with faulting people for falling into a designed trap that has had millions, probably billions put into its powers of manipulation.
Plus, saying it's the person's fault, in any phrasing, takes away from the real culprit that we should be fighting. And gives them an easy out. It's not the individuals fault it's the evil overlords, causing literal brain washing and they need to be taken down. And if people look at it from a "this is designed to trap you" perspective, it causes a very different, and much more achievable, approach to abstinence, too. Just my take. Thought you might find the perspective interesting.
Alcoholics also normalize their behaviour and shame everyone whose who isn't an alcoholic as being 'no fun' or 'lame' etc.
I mean, yeah, you gotta hit some huge life lows for it to be classed as an addiction. That word isn't thrown around lightly. That's probably a lesser phase, it gets way worse.
I saw this thing once that tallied up all the time of your life you spend doing mundane things, how many years you spend sleeping, doing dishes etc etc.
It really got me thinking about what tiny things were a dripping tap, leaking my life away. It's not about not doing mundane things, it's about being in the moment and enjoying life as much as possible, so I set about shortening things or making things more fun that weren't, or rethinking how much time something takes and if it's worth that added up contribution of my life. Am I going to look back and regret spending time in that way.
It's not just the big things, some things creep in in small incremental ways and steal your time and attention. I suppose that's the beginning stages of phone addiction?