---
date: 2017-10-18
modified_at: 2019-05-20
tags: [philosophy, productivity, social-media]
description: A critical analysis comparing Facebook's addictive nature to heroin, examining how social media algorithms designed for user retention may be turning people into zombies with shortened attention spans and reduced real-world value.
---
# Is Facebook as addictive as Heroin?

[I](/2017/smartphone-attention-pollution) [have](/2017/notification-zombies/) [written](/time-management/) [about](/2017/invisible-elephant-shit/) [this](/2017/the-internet-connects-the-unconnected-but-disconnects-the-connected/)
[topic](/2017/drop-whatsapp-save-40-minutes/) [before](/2017/counterproductive-behaviors-of-solo-entrepreneurs/), but
[these](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/oct/05/smartphone-addiction-silicon-valley-dystopia)
[articles](https://techcrunch.com/2017/10/17/the-next-revolution-will-be-reclaiming-your-digital-identity/?ncid=rss)
(well targeted by Twitter https://twitter.com and Facebook
http://facebook.com) have sparked my attention again.

They are both really worrying. What I have written before I could still laugh
about but now that the creator of the like-button compares Facebook to heroin...
Wow.

And I can't prove him wrong. Let's talk about heroin. Wikipedia states the
following: Common side effects include respiratory depression (decreased
breathing), dry mouth, euphoria, and addiction. Other side effects can include
abscesses, infected heart valves, blood-borne infections, constipation, and
pneumonia. After a history of long-term use, withdrawal symptoms can begin
within hours of last use.

Facebook is addictive. I've been there. Facebook is designed to keep the user on
the network by giving him/her exactly what he/she wants. It is television, but
better targeted. Because it knows everything from its user. And this makes it so
addictive. But is it as addictive as heroin? Well... it does not have the same
side effects physically, but I think that mentally it can be very similar.
Facebook is something that can give you almost a euphoric pleasure, but this
pleasure align well with the actual value it brings to you?

At least it's not harmful to our bodies! Right? Well... We think that. But we
don't know! All we see is the tip of the iceberg. The whole world is using a
technology that is changing faster than ever. The technology is changing for
maximum profitability and user retention. Facebook is a commercial company. But
is it okay to do that? What if this algorithm turns us into zombies?

You must be thinking I'm talking bullshit right now. But think about it for a
moment. We get distracted by our phones a hundred times a day and this makes us
less able to focus on one thing. How many times per day do you look at your
phone while you were concentrating on something else? For me, it was a lot, so
recently I completely blocked my phone between 7AM and 8PM using a tool called
freedom https://freedom.to?rfsn=643864.2d1dfd, but it's not enough. Just like
the creator of the like button, I'm saying goodbye to apps. I've just bought a
Nokia 3310.

I feel that Facebook and all other attention-demanding websites and applications
not only provide next to no value for me... I think it has a negative impact on
the value I can provide to the world.

A lot of companies have no-phone regulations but what if you're home? When are
you going to read a book and actually try to understand something for more than
10 seconds (before you scroll down to the next post)? Some individuals show a
very short attention span and aren't able to suppress the urges to look at their
phone while having a conversation or doing something important. It just feels
like the right thing to do, but is it?

It may be a very strong claim but I'm gonna say it anyway (if I haven't lost
your attention already, and gone to the next thing in your scroll-morphine
slot-machine, you must agree with me. You must see it in a few individuals
around you at least). So I think that our privacy is already gone. Our identity
can be found everywhere on the internet and everybody can do with it whatever
they want. Being addicted to your phone means your attention span is way shorter
and this problem lasts the whole waking day because your phone is always nearby.
A shorter attention span means you can provide less value to the world. In your
job but also in your social life. Let's continue. I think that, once companies
will recognize that social-media-addicted people have a shorter attention span
and therefore become less valuable for them, they will not hire them anymore. In
other words, our attention is taken, and so is our value. Just like heroin, our
phones consume us and makes us less valuable. We are eaten by what we crave.

The internet connects the disconnected but disconnects the connected, and people
are increasingly becoming more connected to the internet, and less connected to
their surroundings. Their behavior is almost triggered by the neural network of
their digital identity, so their identity is slowly moving online.

Quote from TechCrunch: "If you were to look at a complete model of your digital
self, it would be a complex relational web. At the most granular level of that
web are nodes, each representing actions (a text, a selfie, a purchase…). The
connections between those nodes are formulas that infer relationships, record
patterns and predict behavior. If you zoom out, you get the sub-web of a given
service (Instagram account, Homeland Security profile, medical history…). These
sub-webs then join together to form the larger web that is your digital
identity.

At the risk of beating a dead horse, we should have ultimate control over our
identity access points"

Maybe I'm extremely biased and maybe it's not that bad (all my research was done
in the targeted facebook and twitter posts bubble), but I am a little concerned.
What do you think guys? Is internet becoming too addictive? If this is a global
trend, at what point will it become a global thread, or health issue, to say the
least?

Sources:

[How to solve attention pollution and cure your love/hate relationship with your
smartphone](/2017/smartphone-attention-pollution/)

[Notification-zombies](/2017/notification-zombies/)

[Time management](/2017/time-management/)

[Elephant shit](/2017/invisible-elephant-shit/)

[Internet connects the unconnected, but disconnects the connected](/2017/the-internet-connects-the-unconnected-but-disconnects-the-connected/)

[Today I uninstalled WhatsApp to save 40 minutes a day](/2017/drop-whatsapp-save-40-minutes/)

[Counterproductive behaviors of solo-entrepreneurs](/2017/counterproductive-behaviors-of-solo-entrepreneurs/)

[The Guardian: Our minds can be hijacked': the tech insiders who fear a
smartphone dystopia](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/oct/05/smartphone-addiction-silicon-valley-dystopia)

[TechCrunch: The next revolution will be reclaiming your digital identity](https://techcrunch.com/2017/10/17/the-next-revolution-will-be-reclaiming-your-digital-identity/?ncid=rss)

impage 1 source\*
https://vulcanpost.com/12106/smartphone-addiction-becoming-real-problem-singapore/

image 2 source\* https://doctortrex.wordpress.com/