"Through her research, she uncovered four key features that, when combined together, help hold people on the gambling devices.
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"Through her research, she uncovered four key features that, when combined together, help hold people on the gambling devices. These features trigger a trancelike or dissociative state, known as a "machine zone" or "dark flow," in which people lose track of their sense of time and place.
"To Schüll's surprise, around the early 2010s, the same features began to appear on phone and tablet apps, including social media, games and video-streaming platforms. "These are not normal products for kids like a pair of shoes or a toy," she says. "They create a relationship with kids."
"Here are four features that create that superglue…"
#addiction #gambling #SocialMedia #screens
https://www.npr.org/2026/04/21/nx-s1-5776665/surprising-origin-features-superglue-kids-adults-to-screens@rayckeith Excellent article.
In my opinion, the conclusion falls short though:
“Children need help regulating their use of these apps, but they also need protection from harmful design.”
It’s not the children that really need anything. Instead, the social media companies need a sustained beating with a very big stick.
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"Through her research, she uncovered four key features that, when combined together, help hold people on the gambling devices. These features trigger a trancelike or dissociative state, known as a "machine zone" or "dark flow," in which people lose track of their sense of time and place.
"To Schüll's surprise, around the early 2010s, the same features began to appear on phone and tablet apps, including social media, games and video-streaming platforms. "These are not normal products for kids like a pair of shoes or a toy," she says. "They create a relationship with kids."
"Here are four features that create that superglue…"
#addiction #gambling #SocialMedia #screens
https://www.npr.org/2026/04/21/nx-s1-5776665/surprising-origin-features-superglue-kids-adults-to-screens@rayckeith and that's WITHOUT adding something like ADHD into the mix.
There are apps that suck me in completely. I have to treat them like I would any problematic addiction and remove them from my devices entirely. When I think about it - they meet all 4 of these criteria.
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@Tooden @rayckeith the “dark web”,whatever that is, isn’t the problem here.
It’s TikTok, Instagram, and all the others.
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@rayckeith Excellent article.
In my opinion, the conclusion falls short though:
“Children need help regulating their use of these apps, but they also need protection from harmful design.”
It’s not the children that really need anything. Instead, the social media companies need a sustained beating with a very big stick.
@slothrop See also loot boxes in games. The 2010s were a wild ride until courts stepped in and at least forced companies to put in barriers for real money purchases; the court case where a father sued Electronic Arts over his son's 10 000 pounds (I think it was) purchases for FIFA did have some results.
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@rayckeith Excellent article.
In my opinion, the conclusion falls short though:
“Children need help regulating their use of these apps, but they also need protection from harmful design.”
It’s not the children that really need anything. Instead, the social media companies need a sustained beating with a very big stick.
@slothrop @rayckeith And why just children?
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@slothrop @rayckeith And why just children?
@jmax @rayckeith Jesus fuck, have you read the article?!!
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@rayckeith Excellent article.
In my opinion, the conclusion falls short though:
“Children need help regulating their use of these apps, but they also need protection from harmful design.”
It’s not the children that really need anything. Instead, the social media companies need a sustained beating with a very big stick.
Age verification for those apps often reads like:
"Manufacturers keep making appliances with bare wires and getting children electrocuted. We should mandate people buy a locked box that checks your age before being able to take the appliance out and plug it in to protect the children"
Good to see someone explicitly calling out "the problem is the bare wires you idiot"
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@rayckeith Excellent article.
In my opinion, the conclusion falls short though:
“Children need help regulating their use of these apps, but they also need protection from harmful design.”
It’s not the children that really need anything. Instead, the social media companies need a sustained beating with a very big stick.
@rayckeith I don’t quite understand why in the replies, people are arguing about age verification, when the conversation that needs to happen clearly is “we know where Zuckerberg lives, I get the torches, you get the pitchforks, we ride at dawn”
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@rayckeith I don’t quite understand why in the replies, people are arguing about age verification, when the conversation that needs to happen clearly is “we know where Zuckerberg lives, I get the torches, you get the pitchforks, we ride at dawn”
@slothrop @rayckeith fascist propagandists are good at their jobs
I'm sure you know this, but for anyone reading along: age verification is a scam. It won't keep kids safe, and it's not intended to. It's being pushed for the express purpose of mass surveillance, especially on adults, especially on marginalized adults. Look at the state of politics in the US, the UK, etc. The US has defined any mention of trans people as pornography. This isn't going to protect kids, it's going to kill people. -
@slothrop @rayckeith fascist propagandists are good at their jobs
I'm sure you know this, but for anyone reading along: age verification is a scam. It won't keep kids safe, and it's not intended to. It's being pushed for the express purpose of mass surveillance, especially on adults, especially on marginalized adults. Look at the state of politics in the US, the UK, etc. The US has defined any mention of trans people as pornography. This isn't going to protect kids, it's going to kill people.@raphaelmorgan Like duh it's not going to protect kids. I'm old enough to remember before the Internet, and I was still able to get access to porn without it. However, unlike Pornhub, some of the people who provided it to single-digit age me also had really bad intentions. Leaving porn alone and unrestricted is actually the safer option.
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