ADDICTIVE AND POISONOUS SOCIAL MEDIA AS HARMFUL AS SMOKING, EXPERTS SAY
▶ Increase in rates of depression and suicide could lead to a sea change in attitudes towards online platforms
Social media use could soon be considered as harmful to society as smoking, a leading expert has said.
Last month, New York’s Mayor Eric Adams declared social media a public health hazard.
An analyst said Mr Adams’s decision drew parallels with the change in attitudes to smoking.
“Smoking used to be ubiquitous and it was perfectly acceptable for people to smoke in front of their children, as well as other people’s children,” said economist and future trends analyst Bronwyn Williams.
“Smoking was once even recommended by doctors and was classed as completely normal, when it’s anything but normal.
“To accept it was a choice that society made. We chose to revoke that choice when we saw the actual effects.”
Last week’s announcement by Mr Adams suggests perceptions of social media were on a similar path, she added.
“It’s very similar in that things that are completely normalised and socially acceptable can become anything but in the space of a few short years,” Ms Williams said.
“Things can quickly go from acceptable to abhorrent. Now we are starting to see what is happening with depression and suicide rates [caused by social media use].”
Mr Adams said companies such as TikTok, YouTube and Facebook were fuelling a mental health crisis, The Washington Post reported.
Social media should be treated like other public health hazards, such as “tobacco and guns”, Mr Adams added.
A recent survey from Statista found almost 40 per cent of US social media users said it was addictive, with nine per cent saying they were addicted.
Last week, the chief executives of Meta, X, TikTok, Snap and Discord were summoned to testify before the US Senate over alleged harm to children caused by their platforms.
Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg apologised to families who held up pictures of children they said had been harmed. He pledged to work to make his platforms safer.
Ms Williams said she expected other countries and regions to follow New York’s lead.
“What we’re already starting to see is some countries approach it from a censorship point of view. Other methods are starting to emerge too,” she said.
“Firewalls like they have in China and outright bans are the most blunt examples. Age restrictions are also being explored. More regions will further restrict social media especially for children and minors.”
More than 60 per cent of young Arabs think social media use is leading to a decline in their mental health, last year’s Arab Youth Survey showed.
Another expert said the perils of social media were all too apparent, especially in children.
“The design of social networks and the content posted on them is designed to capture the attention of users, in much the same way as sweet candy attracts children, creating an addiction that is difficult to break,” said Prof Nathalie Martial-Braz, vice chancellor of Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi.
“Children and teenagers exposed to many images and very short sounds are over-solicited and over-stimulated, creating an inability to concentrate for longer periods of time.
“Social networks are first and foremost dangerous on an individual level in that they overexpose teenagers to too many idealised images at an age when comparison can lead to a significant loss of self-confidence and self-esteem.
“[Social media platforms] can also be dangerous at a social level because of the ideological confinement described, which encourages radicalisation, conspiracy theorising and disinformation, particularly the scientific and medical disinformation we saw during the Covid-19 pandemic.”
Another expert said New York’s declaration was justified.
“It is fair because excessive use of social media has a high potential to increase mental health issues in adults, resulting in feelings of anxiety, depression and loneliness,” said Adveta Dwivedi, head of marketing at Gamers Hub Media Events.
“It is all tied up to decreased self-esteem and a distorted sense of reality, as individuals often compare their lives to the curated version of others. This builds feelings of inadequacy and contributes to a cycle of negative emotions within society.”