56 pointsby pseudolus9 hours ago14 comments
  • JumpCrisscross4 hours ago
    > Adam Mosseri, who has led Instagram for eight years

    This is the light of moral clarity in Mountain View that champions Instagram for Kids [1].

    [1] https://www.npr.org/2021/12/08/1062576576/instagrams-ceo-ada...

    • scarab924 hours ago
      It’s worth keeping in mind that 16 hours was their single highest day of use ever, not their typical daily use.

      I’m sure I’ve spent 16 hours on Netflix or League of Legends in a 24 hour period before, yet my median daily usage is 0 hours, and it wouldn’t be reasonable to describe my usage as an addition either.

      I’m not saying people don’t get addicted to social media, they do, but in this particular case I think his description of problematic is adequate, and this headline is unnecessarily confrontational.

      • 2 hours ago
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  • b00ty4breakfast3 hours ago
    I could maybe be more amenable to considering his opinion if his product wasn't designed to elicit this kind of behavior in users. Whether 16 hours specifically is the norm or just an extreme outlier, it is still the desired outcome of every decision that goes into engineering and building Instagram.

    eating 20 twinkies a day isn't necessarily the norm but twinkies have been formulated to make you want to eat them.

  • baxtr4 hours ago
    It’s good to have a definition in place before a discussion.

    People with addiction use substances or engage in behaviors that become compulsive and often continue despite harmful consequences.

    This is from the American Society of Addiction Medicine.

    You can do your own test if this matches watching short videos extensively.

    https://www.asam.org/quality-care/definition-of-addiction

    • rester3243 hours ago
      IMO we are way past beyond the point where these definitions are necessary. The consensus is that social media sites are objectively mentally harmful
  • godelski4 hours ago
    Considering teenagers should get more than 8hrs of sleep, 16 hours means they're losing sleep because they spent more than their waking hours on a single thing...
    • giancarlostoro4 hours ago
      Ah yes, my high school years, go to sleep at 1 ~ 2 AM wake up at 5 AM in order to get ready for high school. There was no instagram, insomnia was still terrible. Teens need a lot of sleep time, but I feel like I was way more resilient on less sleep. Compared to now where I can barely function without at least 7 hours of sleep.
  • Frieren3 hours ago
    > "I'm sure I've said that I've been addicted to a Netflix show when I binged it really late one night, but I don't think it's the same thing as clinical addiction."

    Tobacco defense. He is defending himself in a trial, is a very biased opinion.

    > Familial links to lung cancer manifestation first appeared in the literature in the 1960s when siblings were found to have an increase in lung cancer mortality. ... The first published piece of literature attributing cigarette smoking to the growing incidence of lung cancer was in 1912 ... Tobacco companies enlisted the medical and nursing professions to promote the safety of their products in their advertising materials

    Stop listening to billionaires and CEOs that profit the most from the damage that their business do to society. They lie for money, as simple as that.

  • leosanchez4 hours ago
    When does it become an addiction? 26 hours?
  • throwawayk7h4 hours ago
    habituation and addiction are technically different. But both can be very damaging.
  • Surac4 hours ago
    If i only look ar it every 8 hours for 10 secs then 16 hours may be ok
  • stinkbeetle4 hours ago
    He would say that.
  • carabiner4 hours ago
    Are we the bad guys then?
    • daniel_iversen4 hours ago
      [assuming you work for Meta or a social media company] in theory (and not that debatable IMHO) if the net contribution to society on balance is negative?
    • sphan hour ago
      If you work on a social media platform, probably, yeah.
  • sidcool4 hours ago
    "Thank you for smoking"
  • neya4 hours ago
    [flagged]
    • mandeepj4 hours ago
      > Added the "Instagram boss" to my personal list

      His compensation package must have these variable components- MAUs, hours spent, engagement etc

    • FrankBooth4 hours ago
      AktionT4.md?
  • walletdrainer5 hours ago
    That seems like it’s probably correct, and utterly unsurprising.

    Why does this deserve a headline?

    • thisislife24 hours ago
      Do you really believe 16 hours of use daily is not indicative of an addiction? It deserves a headline as it is is a controversial statement that aims to minimise criticism against social media platforms and thus needs to be challenged / debated in society. If social media addiction is not treated as a social problem, the people will not pressure the government to regulate it. That is why social media platforms are claiming that it is only (a personal) problem (of some individual) if some use it for 16 hours while others suggest that it has become a societal problem because its users are now addicts. Social problems needs political solutions to address, and in this case one of the suggested ways is government intervention (through regulations).
      • walletdrainer2 hours ago
        > Do you really believe 16 hours of use daily is not indicative of an addiction?

        It can certainly indicate that, but typically does not.

        Most instances of problematic overindulgence have absolutely nothing to do with addiction.

      • 4 hours ago
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    • nielsbot4 hours ago
      That he said it or that the label “problematic” is correct?
      • walletdrainer2 hours ago
        Both of the above, and also that the label “addiction” is typically not correct.
    • bdamm4 hours ago
      It is absolutely revealing that the Instagram boss can’t openly admit that 16 hours of daily use is a problem.

      Name one thing that is okay to do for 16 hours a day. One.

      • andsoitis4 hours ago
        > It is absolutely revealing that the Instagram boss can’t openly admit that 16 hours of daily use is a problem.

        He literally said it is problematic!

      • razingeden2 hours ago
        Take meth for example, if someone can use it for only one hour a day is it a problem?

        Who and what in your life is 16 hours of Instagram taking you away from?

        Instagram is garbage by the way for any Meta people in this thread. I’m tired of not seeing anyone I follow because you’re putting ads and viral videos I don’t give a fuck about in front of me instead. No wonder it wastes 16 hours, scrolling through shit trying to find something from someone or something you follow.

        Your app is literally useless for communicating or keeping up with anyone I follow.

        Facebook died when it lost interest in being Facebook and wanted to become TikTok.

        Instagram died when it lost interest in being Instagram and wanted to become TikTok.

        Your products and company should be banned, and everyone on your board belongs in jail.

      • atomicapple4 hours ago
        > the Instagram boss can’t openly admit that 16 hours of daily use is a problem.

        > Instagram boss says 16 hours of daily use is "problematic"

      • tgv4 hours ago
        Not the best argument, as the answer is breathing.
        • DavidPiper4 hours ago
          If Instagram is as omnipresent as breathing we still have problem.
          • tgv24 minutes ago
            Sure, I totally agree with the sentiment, but it's not the right way to formulate an objection.
        • ta89034 hours ago
          I don't think it's okay to breathe for 16 hours a day.
      • King-Aaron4 hours ago
        breathing
  • intellectronica4 hours ago
    Technically correct. We can't call every compulsive behaviour "addiction". Using a social app for 16 hours a day is a very serious problem and requires treatment. But it's not addiction in the same sense that other commonly-recognised addictions to substance and even behaviours are.
    • whilenot-dev3 hours ago
      I'd call every enjoyment that isn't practiced as a ritual an addiction, and healthy rituals should not take up more than a fraction of the available time.

      With 16 hours of daily use (and 8 hours of sleep per day) I wouldn't contrast the batched consumption here on an hours/day-basis, but on a days/year-basis, like going on a trip, a festival etc. Since that basically results in all the days available each year here, it isn't really a practiced ritual anymore, but a complete lifestyle.