"The lawyers involved are explicitly using the tobacco playbook, comparing social media to cigarettes. But there's an important point here: "social media addiction" isn't actually a recognized clinical addiction. And a fascinating new study in Nature's Scientific Reports suggests that our collective insistence on using addiction language might actually be making things worse for users who want to change their behavior."
"The researchers conducted two studies. In the first, they surveyed a nationally representative sample of adult Instagram users and found something striking: only about 2% of users showed symptoms that would put them at risk for addiction based on the clinical criteria in the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale. But when asked directly if they felt addicted, 18% of users agreed at least somewhat."
Hundreds of US families, including parents, teens and school districts, have filed lawsuits alleging that Meta, TikTok, Snap and YouTube intentionally designed platforms to be addictive and harm children. Plaintiffs claim young users develop depression, eating disorders, self-harm tendencies, and other mental-health problems after becoming hooked. Lawyers are drawing comparisons to the tobacco industry playbook. A study in Nature's Scientific Reports found that only about 2% of adult Instagram users met clinical criteria for social-media addiction, while 18% self-reported feeling addicted, suggesting widespread overestimation. The study warns that labeling behaviors as 'addiction' may impede people's efforts to change usage.
Read at Above the Law
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