The hidden ways social media is built to be addictive and manipulative (and what you can do to fight back)

Social media is one of many epidemics in modern times.
(It certainly wasn’t made with your long term mental health in mind)

Social media, originally was marketed as a way to connect friends, colleagues, family members and like minded individuals had humble beginnings.

Now?

It has changed considerably since its inception and more and more people have a growing concern of the impact it has on the world.

With the average person spending 2 hours and 27 minutes daily on social media and teens and young adults averaging up to 5.8 hours daily, its not hard to see why…

It’s a massive time-sink and instant gratification source for people:

Although not as powerful of a dopamine release as drugs, social stimuli is said to stimulate similar dopaminergic reward pathways. Smartphones and social media combine into an infinite source of social stimuli in our pockets.

It’s used as a primary marketing platform:

Users don’t just log in and browse. They give platforms their name, where they live, what they like and who they know, painting the most vivid picture currently possible for marketers looking to target specific consumers.

It’s a status symbol for celebrities:

Celebrities can build cult like followings by sharing their views, expressing their personality and providing entertainment or education while building a powerful brand around themselves, a group or a company.

It’s where political campaigns, news, social movements and deeper agendas grow:

Ronald Delbert, a professor of political science at the University of Toronto, has stated that social media proliferates attention grabbing, often emotionally driven and divisive material, rather than multi-facetted content that presents multiple viewpoints.

It’s a dangerous vessel for misinformation, ideology and dogma:

Social media is often used to misinform people, which, in turn, can lead to confusion, dilution of truth and ignorance among people and can prove to be destructive.

Whether you notice it or not, social media has conquered the influence game. Everything from shopping habits, relationships, education, political bias and even our mental state has been affected.

With the obscenely rapid technological advancements in recent years without the corresponding awareness to manage it, we risk totalitarian control and large scale manipulation. (If we don’t have it already…)

So what can we do about it?

Let’s find out.

How are people coping? (Clearly we need help…)

37% of people on social media report feeling FOMO (fear of missing out). 63% of parents see social media as harmful to children's mental health.
32% of teenagers report being cyber-bullied.
40% of people on social media report feeling anxious or depressed after.
60% of people on social media report feeling like they need to take a break.
37% of people report being impacted by political views on social media.
42% of people on social media report feeling more insecure about their appearance after using it.

Link to study here.

What do former management of social media companies think about their creation?

“I feel tremendous guilt… I think we have created tools that are ripping apart the social fabric of how society works” said Chamath Palihapitiya.

Facebook’s former vice president, November 2017 during a talk at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business added that he himself rarely uses Facebook, and that his children “aren’t allowed to use that sh*t”.

Social media “literally changes your relationship with society, with each other,” said Sean Parker. (The founding president of Facebook) at an event in Philadelphia around the same time he said: “It probably interferes with productivity in weird ways. God only knows what it’s doing to our children’s brains.”

As Antonio García Martínez, a former product manager at Facebook, writes in his memoir, Chaos Monkeys, the company is actually “the regulator of the biggest accumulation of personal data since DNA”.

As well as recording and analysing our activities on Facebook itself, the social media company also collects data on many of our other online activities, and it even buys information from data collection companies, such as Experian, about your offline life.

This information can include but is certainly not limited to: your income, your credit history, outstanding loans, your credit limits and regular habits or behaviours and much more…

Your attention is their money maker.

Every like.
Every swipe.
Every refresh.
Every moment.
Every notification.

Social media companies spend fortunes on consistently updating and reviewing their strategies to win over your attention, increase advertising revenue and keep you hooked, coming back for more.

These apps are free because their customer is not the consumer, their customers are advertisers, data collection companies, and consumer research groups.

The more time you spend scrolling, buying and watching, the more money they make…

1. Snapstreaks (Snapchat)

Snapchat's Snapstreaks feature tracks consecutive days of communication between users. Teenagers log in daily to maintain these streaks, spurred by hourglass emojis warning when streaks are at risk. This taps into their fear of exclusion, keeping them constantly engaged. Some even give friends their passwords to preserve streaks while on vacation.

2. Video Auto-Play (Netflix, Facebook, YouTube)

Auto-play on Netflix, Facebook, and YouTube hooks viewers by continuously playing videos without conscious decisions. This feature significantly increases screen time, making it hard to stop watching.

3. Continuous Scroll (Facebook, Twitter)

Continuous scroll on platforms like Facebook and Twitter perpetually refreshes content, eliminating pauses and encouraging endless scrolling. This design keeps users engaged, maximising time spent on these apps.

4. Invitations to Connect (LinkedIn)

LinkedIn's connection invitations exploit social reciprocity. Users often think invites are personal, but they’re usually suggested by LinkedIn. Accepting endorsements creates social obligations, prompting people to endorse others and cultivating continuous engagement.

5. Notifications (Facebook, Instagram)

Social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram use variable rewards, similar to slot machines, to keep users checking their phones for notifications. These notifications are timed to maximise emotional impact, delivering dopamine bursts and ensuring users remain engaged.

6. Swiping Left or Right (Tinder)

Tinder's swiping mechanism leverages FOMO (fear of missing out). Users keep swiping for potential matches, driven by anxiety about missing important opportunities, even if previous swipes haven't led to meetings.

7. Photo Tagging (Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat)

Photo tagging on Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat appeals to users' need for social approval. By prompting users to tag friends, these platforms create moments of social validation, drawing users back to engage with likes and comments on their photos.

Ramsay Brown put it this way:

“We have now developed a rigorous technology of the human mind, and that is both exciting and terrifying. We have the ability to twiddle some nobs in a machine learning dashboard we build, and around the world hundreds of thousands of people are going to quietly change their behaviour in ways that, unbeknownst to them, feel second-nature but are really by design.

“Which means that there’s a deep ethical imperative for us to use it for good.”

The Cure? Social Media Detoxing.

Social media detoxing is vital for lasting happiness in the modern age.

You may say: “Leigh, you are such a hypocrite!”

Sure, in some ways I am. However, in order to create lasting change for humanity as a whole to help people unlock both freedom to experience their desired reality as well as freedom from the financial system I need to create social leverage to make an impact.

Building a social media personal brand is using the very thing I’m advising people to take a break from, yes. But I have pure intentions to be a net good to people and help “fight the good fight”.

How To Social Media Detox And Control Your Life:

1. Delete the social media apps

Deleting them does not have to be forever, however if you cannot go without a week without checking them, you have a serious problem.

By deleting them first we create more resistance to not going back on them. The goal is to create lasting change and an independence from the apps controlling your life.

2. Detox with a friend/partner

Whether you are getting fit, eating healthy, or social media detoxing having someone keep you accountable can make all the difference. You will feel supported and have someone to talk too when the cravings get tough.

Sharing the journey with someone after you complete the challenge means you won’t want to let them down as well as yourself down, a powerful motivator for lasting change.

3. Identify your problem apps

Download an app like “moment” which helps you break down time usages across apps. If you are an iPhone user, you are probably used to “Screen Time” but having a clear idea of the problem apps is key to awareness and long term management.

4. Try not carry your phone keep it on silent

No notifications is a great hack for people, simply doing this can lead to a massive reduction in impulses or cravings.

Better yet, keep it at home and frequently go out without it or intentionally switch to using a smart watch to limit phone usage. (This way features are limited but many basic functions are still there)

5. Put a rubber band around your phone

Make one more step for you to impulsively check your phone. This simple hack helped me because ever time I see it, I am reminded of my goal to not use the phone as much.

This gives just enough of a reminder and motivation to catch myself before its too late. Worth a shot for sure.

6. Redesign your lock screen - black and white

Our brains are stimulated with colours, our phones are specifically designed to be vibrant looking and stimulating. Combat this by switching to black and white.

Cathrine Price changes her lock screen so when you open it, it says:

What for? Why now? What else? - Doing so limits use of the phone and makes sure you only use it with conscious intentions.

7. Value your time and attention more

For money, most are taught to be cautious of how much we are spending but we never seem to think how much time we spend on social media…

Time is much more valuable than money because time is one thing we cannot possibly get back. It’s about time we prioritise it.

8. Practice meditation

Mediation is the act of watching your impulsive thoughts, feelings and become more mindful of what you are doing.

People constantly make excuses why they can’t meditate but the truth is:

1. They are so stimulated by modern day society they struggle to sit still and embrace boredom.
2. They don’t realise theres many different mediation techniques to try and no ones perfect at the start.
3. They don’t exhaust their stimulation with a different style first so they can better meditate.

9. Hide your social media apps

Make a different folder out of the way, hidden deeper within the phone.

By not having the icons directly in plain sight you can avoid any impulsive cues and slip ups.

10. Set screen time limits

Download an app called “Freedom”

You can setup time blocks you want freedom to block social media apps and even enable locked mode which won’t allow you to cancel those time limits.

Yes, this is necessary and worth getting to make your changes permanent.

The Bottom Line

People desperately need a healthier relationship with social media.

On a larger scale, we need more conversations around the implications of social media to society, as well as being careful where we source our news.
Everyone has an agenda and checking credibility, independent thinking and observing unobstructed reality (truth) is more essential than ever.

The best we can do is become more educated about the world as a whole and strive to make a positive impact for generations to come.

Personal Progress 29th June - 6th July 🤯

Weekly discovery:

Overwhelm and negative emotions will come, what matters is how we react to outside stimuli, this is where we find our strength.

Favourite quotes of mine this week:

Current Reads:

“Manual For Living” - Epictetus (Re-reading for second time…)

Brilliant book for philosophy and many wise principles to live life by, highly recommend, but not quite as good as “Meditations” by Marcus Aurelius

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I can give you the tools, information, and resources to change, but at the end of the day, you are the only person who can change your life.

Reading this will do absolutely nothing unless you take ACTION.

Your dream life is around the corner. The only person stopping you is you.

My mission is to help people live with purpose towards their ideal future.
I hope this helps you do just that.

To help another person manage social media addiction share this with a friend!

Until next week,
Leigh.