[Gormo]

No, it isn't. Tobacco is a physical substance that alters users' biochemistry and creates a physical dependence. Social media is information conveyed via a computing device. You can criticize social media for what it is in its own right, without having to engage in these kinds of disingenuous equivocations.

[ozim]

Sounds like you need to read up on dopamine and addictions a bit more.

Gambling isn’t introducing substance into user system it is making use of existing brain chemicals.

Social media companies engineered every piece of addictive mechanisms from gambling to alter brain chemistry or reactions of users.

[Gormo]

> Sounds like you need to read up on dopamine and addictions a bit more.

Nah, I just need to not equivocate between them. The use of the same term to describe activities that produce a dopamine response as is used for ingestion of chemicals that create a direct physical dependence is little more than a propaganda tactic.

[jajuuka]

You're blurring the lines a bit. Gambling isn't inherently an addiction. Just like a good TV show isn't inherently addictive either. Social media trying to be more engaging shouldn't really be viewed as an evil action anymore than HBO trying to create compelling content is.

The problem with comparing social media use to tobacco is that they are completely different. It's like saying weed is just like heroin because they both make you feel good. It's reductive and not productive.

The completely anti-social media stance ignores the good parts of social media. People can connect from across the planet and found others who shares the same views or experiences. People who are marginalized can find community where none may exist in their local area. So we should approach this more carefully and grounded.

[pokstad]

You’re right, it’s actually worse than tobacco. Tobacco simply makes your body sick, but social media attacks the most vital part of us. Even the CDC has studied this: https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/73/su/su7304a3.htm

[Gormo]

This is a normative cultural question, not a medical one. The CDC is far outside its expertise and its proper remit by involving itself in this topic.

[bdangubic]

Comparing Tobacco to Social Media is like comparing me to LeBron James. I'd rather have my kid smoke a pack of day than have social media accounts

[fsflover]

Yes, it is: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24579498

[csmcg]

the mechanisms by which that information is being conveyed have been shown to be addictive as well, no?

[Gormo]

No, addiction involves physical substances interacting with a person's biochemistry. Attempting to extend the concept of addiction to include positive emotions brought on by sensory experiences or behavior is a disingenuous rhetorical tactic.

It's simply not legitimate to redefine "addiction" as anything that people might have an emotional or psychological motivation to participate in.

People trying to use the same terminology to describe social media as is used to describe tobacco or alcohol are trying to sneakily attach the negative associations of those substances to something unrelated entirely to them.

This is a form of deception, and a silly one, since social media has lots of negative aspects that can be argued against in their own right, without needing to engage in manipulative dialog.