Instagram boss: 16 hours of daily use is not addiction

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn71mgmzljlo

817 points · 170 comments · view on lemmy.world

170 Comments

themurphy@lemmy.ml · 164 pts · 178d (1 reply)

They'll say everything and exploit anyone for their numbers.

NatakuNox@lemmy.world · 22 pts · 178d

Such a moral way to run a whole economic philosophy.

IsoKiero@sopuli.xyz · 132 pts · 178d (5 replies)

Philip Morris: 1 pack of cigarettes per day is not addiction.

PissingIntoTheWind@lemmy.world · 23 pts · 178d (3 replies)

Greatest accomplishment of my life was quitting cigarettes.

buffing_lecturer@leminal.space · 16 pts · 178d (2 replies)

Congrats!

PissingIntoTheWind@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 178d (1 reply)

Thank you. And to anyone out there trying to quit. You have to try out vaping and then when you get sick of getting sticky from the juice. You’ll finally want to just stop.

frostysauce@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 177d

I did both for a while, smoking and vaping. A place I shop at was giving away cans of nicotine pouches when you bought a pack of cigarettes for a little while.

One day I was starting at the nicotine pouches and thought, "fuck it, let's add another addiction to the mix." Over three hours later I realized I hadn't even thought of a cigarette or vape yet and I didn't feel like one even though I was thinking about it then. A lightbulb went off in my head.

I think I bought one more pack of cigarettes after that. I quickly went down to a few cigarettes a day, then down to two cigarettes a day, then one for a few days, and then none. Vapes were just an indoor substitute for cigarettes, once I didn't want cigarettes I didn't want to vape, either. It took me about a month after that to wean off the pouches, too.

FatVegan@leminal.space · 2 pts · 177d

Yeah but i spend 0 hours a day on social media. There is someone out there that reads 16 hours a day and bo one calls books addictive.

Analog@lemmy.ml · 82 pts · 178d (87 replies)

Post headline deserves a downvote. Quote from article:

Lanier asked Mosseri what he thought of K.G.M's longest single day of use of Instagram being 16 hours.

"That sounds like problematic use," the Instagram boss answered. He did not call it an addiction.

He also didn’t say it was a tomato. Like wtf do you want, I can’t tell if he was asked specifically if 16 hours a day was an addiction. The prior question was about whether he had known she had a 16hr day, and he had not. (He should have; poor trial prep.)

This is sensationalist BS and I dearly want this platform to be better than that.

Just so we’re clear, Meta can die in a fire and the world would be better off, I’m not defending them in the slightest.

XLE@piefed.social · 91 pts · 178d (30 replies)

The title is accurate.

He was asked if it was an addiction, and he repeatedly used technicalities and weaseley language to refuse to admit it.

"It's important to differentiate between clinical addiction and problematic use," [Instagram head Adam Mosseri] added.

"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."

Yet, Mosseri repeatedly said he was not an expert in addiction in response to Lanier's questioning.

lmmarsano@group.lt · 0 pts · 178d (1 reply)

he repeatedly used technicalities and weaseley language to refuse to admit it

see

Yet, Mosseri repeatedly said he was not an expert in addiction in response to Lanier’s questioning.

Even if a nonexpert claims something is clinical addiction, they're a nonexpert & their word is meaningless. For a credible statement, they'll need to admit relevant evidence instead of ask a nonexpert.

Imagine being asked for a medical diagnosis when you're not a qualified physician. It's perfectly fair to point out you're not an expert on the matter & point out your awareness of distinctions between imprecise conventional language & precise, scientific definitions.

No one is obligated to volunteer dubious claims to antagonize themselves on the stand just because you want them to.

XLE@piefed.social · 6 pts · 178d

Pam Bondi, is that you?

maturelemontree@lemmy.zip · -1 pts · 178d (2 replies)

That still sounds misleading. He was not speaking for 16 hours of use which is what the headline suggests. As other has stated, I hope those companies crumble but I think honesty is important, not sensationalization.

XLE@piefed.social · 21 pts · 178d (1 reply)

I fear for the future of reading comprehension. Before the portion Analog quotes, the article gives people multiple paragraphs of context to understand addiction as what is being talked about. I don't expect the word to be wedged into every sentence about the same topic. Meta's Adam Mosseri was clearly doing everything in his playbook to not use the word "addiction" in a sentence.

And Adam Mosseri knew better. We know he's been confronted with evidence of addiction but doesn't want to listen.

But I do find it much more concerning that Analog appointed himself judge of bad articles, then either accidentally or intentionally omitted the preceding paragraphs that I had to quote for him.

Ulrich@feddit.org · -8 pts · 178d

I fear for the future of reading comprehension

I fear for it currently if you think it's okay to make up things people said and put it in a headline.

lastlybutfirstly@lemmy.world · -1 pts · 178d (24 replies)

He's right. Clinical addiction has nothing to do with how much you do something, it has to do with how much it causes problems in your life. I know everyone on Lemmy is tripping over their own hard ons to kill corporations, but there are people using lemmy 16 hours a day and if laws are passed to fight Internet addiction, they will not specifically target corporations. We all go down together. Just ask the creator of Urban Dead.

mrbutterscotch@feddit.org · 2 pts · 177d (21 replies)

So someone doing Heroin everday is not addicted if it doesn't cause any problems in life? Clinical Addiction absolutely does have to do with how much you do something (and other factors of course).

lastlybutfirstly@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 177d (20 replies)

That's a physical addiction. Drug addiction is a problem physicians handle. Psychologists handle addiction to video games, gambling, sex, the Internet, etc and that's how they define addiction.

mrbutterscotch@feddit.org · 1 pts · 177d (19 replies)

That is simply not correct. It is true that addiction to substances ends in physical dependency. But at its core all addiction is psychological. A heroin addict doesn't relapse after two years of being sober because he's still physically addicted to it. In most cases it's about missing the capacity for emotional regulation. And people addicted to substances don't get treated by physicians, at least where I'm from.

lastlybutfirstly@lemmy.world · 0 pts · 176d (18 replies)

It is correct. If you do heroin everyday, you will have physical problems. If you stop playing Team Fortress 2 and it causes you to start shaking, vomiting, and shitting your pants, then that's comparable to heroin. But you won't do that so they're not the same types of addiction. That's why the medical community defines addiction by how something affects your life and not by some arbitrary number of times you do it.

mrbutterscotch@feddit.org · 2 pts · 176d

There are more than one criteria by which addiction gets defined. One of these absolutely is how often you do something. How it affects you is not the only criteria by which the medical community defines an addiction, albeit one of them.

Heroin Addiction is different to Team Fortress addiction in the same way it is different to Cannabis addiction, they are all unique in how they affect you. The physical and psychological effects of cannabis addiction are going to be different to the ones of heroin and internet addiction.

If they were only defined by how they affect you, like you argue, then every addiction would be a unique type of addiction, which is not how we define them

Again at the core all addiction is psychogical. We don't differenciate between them on basis of physical effects.

CosmoNova@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 178d

I guess we could chalk it up to bad journalism because the example was purely anecdotal. It‘s frustrating for sure.

frostysauce@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 177d

*hards on

Doomsider@lemmy.world · 37 pts · 178d

The entire line of questioning was about addiction and the CEO was pretending it wasn't (he didn't want up admit the truth because his company would be liable). The headline was accurate and your take is officially a hot one.

artyom@piefed.social · 9 pts · 178d (52 replies)

Something something defending the billionaires! /s

Analog@lemmy.ml · -6 pts · 178d (51 replies)

I just dislike sensationalism.

If the truth isn’t enough, then I don’t want it.

Doomsider@lemmy.world · 16 pts · 178d (49 replies)

You dislike the truth. You should watch Tobacco CEOs deny that cigarettes were an addiction.

https://youtu.be/A6B1q22R438

XLE@piefed.social · 2 pts · 178d (48 replies)

Hopefully Analog returns to Lemmy in far less than 12 days, and heavily edits their comments to reflect their error

Doomsider@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 178d (47 replies)

Yeah, that was some serious ninja editing.

Analog@lemmy.ml · 0 pts · 178d (45 replies)

What editing? Didn’t edit either if those posts.

Doomsider@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 178d

The comments I replied to were heavily edited after I replied. You can comment at the bottom with an Edit: and then explain what you changed. Otherwise, it is known as a ninja edit and it is generally frowned upon because it makes the conversations convoluted. Cheers!

XLE@piefed.social · 1 pts · 178d

Since you care deeply about truth or something, when will you be correcting your comments that, at best, lack huge amounts of truth that change the contents you put forth? At best, you accidentally skipped multiple paragraphs that contradict your claims. At less best, you knew better.

XLE@piefed.social · -1 pts · 178d

@RemindMe@feddit.org about correcting misinformation in 24 hours

bold_atlas@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 178d

Yeah and you probably think headlines that say "suspect dead after ICE-involved incident" is fine and that "ICE performs summary execution of innocent person" is sensationalism.

luciferofastora@feddit.org · 0 pts · 178d

The post accurately copies the article's headline without editorialising.

The article itself is shit though.

lmmarsano@group.lt · -1 pts · 178d

This is sensationalist BS and I dearly want this platform to be better than that.

This platform loves sensationalism. Same with other platforms.

Iconoclast@feddit.uk · 50 pts · 178d (8 replies)

What do you even do on Instagram for 16 hours?

Motocolpittz@piefed.ca · 38 pts · 178d (4 replies)

My ex was super depressed. Long story short she was struggling with sexuality. I watched her spend literal hours on the couch scrolling insta. She got deep into Reels and would watch them all day. The algorithm is so addicting. It kept her eyes glued. She also ended up down the self diagnosed rabbit hole deciding she had all sorts of mental illness. It was awful.

dogslayeggs@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 178d (3 replies)

I only have an Instagram account to follow when special beers are released by a local brewery. That's their only method of communication, which is annoying.

I have found myself on IG watching skateboarding or cliff diving videos for 15 or 20 minutes before catching myself. It's crazy how addicting it can be. I'm not doom scrolling or even researching a hobby I often do. I just find those videos fascinating, and it keeps feeding that to me. I just don't open IG anymore.

SqueakySpider@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 8 pts · 178d

I recommend imginn for checking instagram via a browser. I use it for basically the same reason, checking on local businesses.

Motocolpittz@piefed.ca · 1 pts · 178d (1 reply)

You can set limits with warnings. It’s super helpful. I get a warning if I’ve spent more than 15 minutes a day on it. It actually cuts me off after 30.

dogslayeggs@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 178d

I just don't use it anymore. Saves me money on beer. I opened it up last week for the first time in 2 months to see if Pliny the Younger was on tap at a local bar.

MadMadBunny@lemmy.ca · 21 pts · 178d

Why do ppl spend hours on slot machines in bars and casinos? What are they doing during all those hours?

FB, IG, TikTok, Candy Crush etc. are all using those exact same techniques to get you hooked like junkies.

It’s literally a crime a against humanity.

Nurse_Robot@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 178d

Doom scroll

krashmo@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 178d

idk but the fact that people do that is sad as fuck

MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip · 43 pts · 178d (3 replies)

What's the deal with tech bosses obviously lying lately? Just a legal thing? Or a it's true if we say it long enough thing?

LifeLikeLady@lemmy.world · 53 pts · 178d (2 replies)

When the president of the united states is held to zero accountability and no one seems to care. Why would these assholes?

Imgonnatrythis@sh.itjust.works · 22 pts · 178d

They are the exact same type of assholes

Zink@programming.dev · 5 pts · 178d

Oh they do care, just in the wrong way.

In the business world "benchmarking" basically means "let's copy what the successful people do, so that line go up"

In their robotic, amoral view of the world, they see one of the most successful people on the planet (according to their definition of success) constantly spouting obvious lies and being surrounded by sycophants while getting elected twice and grifting billions and facing no punishments. Maybe if the tech CEOs get rich enough and their companies get important enough, they can join his club.

Ohhh, and they must be how we get oligarchies!

vaultdweller013@sh.itjust.works · 43 pts · 178d (3 replies)

All I do is play fucking games and even 16 hours of that is absurd unless I'm specifically trying to force my sleep pattern into something usable again.

RisingSwell@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 7 pts · 178d (1 reply)

I've definitely hit 16 hr days before for gaming but it's rare as hell. Warframe, Runescape and Minecraft are probably the only 3 to hit that peak, and I'm definitely not a functioning human during that time.

Scrollone@feddit.it · 6 pts · 178d

I still think that 16 hours of gaming are better than 16 hours of scrolling videos that are passively fetched to you.

UltraGiGaGigantic@lemmy.ml · 3 pts · 177d

I wish I could game for 16 hours straight, but my flesh is spongey and weak.

arcine@jlai.lu · 42 pts · 178d
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ConstantPain@lemmy.world · 40 pts · 177d (2 replies)

All CEOs of the big ones are sociopaths. It's by design.

A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.world · 18 pts · 177d (1 reply)

You don't have to be a sociopath to be a CEO, but most CEOs are sociopaths.. because sociopathic traits, mostly lack of empathy and zero issue with being horribly manipulative, are traits that tend to be selected for to move up to this level.

Etterra@discuss.online · 5 pts · 177d

A lot of them sell shit or practice law instead.

minorkeys@lemmy.world · 32 pts · 178d

He is not qualified to identify what is and isn't addiction. He is qualified to demonstrate he's a psychopath.

fossilesque@mander.xyz · 29 pts · 178d
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qarbone@lemmy.world · 24 pts · 178d (2 replies)

A system that benefits people who lie about objective facts should be destroyed.

If the tactical business decision is to look someone in the face and say "spending 2/3rds of a day, 16 whole hours, idly gazing at photos of anything is not an addiction" in order to protect business interests, then things are wrong. Addiction to a product should be met with horror! Oh no, how could this happen? Instead, it's part of the business model.

"Business" is a blight.

RamRabbit@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 177d

spending 2/3rds of a day, 16 whole hours

Even worse: if you get a proper night's sleep, 16 hours is literally the entire day. Dude is saying if you are getting healthy amounts of sleep, it is perfectly acceptable to spend 100% of your time doom scrolling on their website. No eating, no going to work, no showering.

It's an absurd statement.

atcorebcor@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 177d

Are you sure it benefits him to say that? I think its not even a left vs right issue to recognize this is an issue. At least it sparks discussion and makes people criticize him.

A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.world · 24 pts · 177d (1 reply)

"Its not an addiction, I'm not addicted snorts line off a toilet seat I'M PERFECTLY FUNCTIONAL"

Etterra@discuss.online · 9 pts · 177d

Goddammit, who the hell let RFK Jr. in here?

Derpenheim@lemmy.zip · 22 pts · 178d (3 replies)

Bro I spend 4 hours a day gaming and I feel guilty enough to fuck over my sleep schedule and get some chores done. 16 hours????

Ibuthyr@lemmy.wtf · 2 pts · 178d (2 replies)

Teenagers.

Derpenheim@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 177d (1 reply)

Chores dont stop because you get older bud

Ibuthyr@lemmy.wtf · 1 pts · 177d

They tend to get more. Teenagers won't do chores for shit though, lol. Teens will do whatever they want for 24h straight, then sleep for 16 hours.

Potatar@lemmy.world · 20 pts · 177d (4 replies)

Guys you heard it here first: You can drink alcohol for 16 hours everyday and it's not addiction.

Darkenfolk@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 177d (2 replies)

Well yeah, because you are fucking dead. Dying might be the best cure for addiction's known to man.

abigscaryhobo@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 177d

I think the better language is "you can be drunk 16 hours a day" which, some people are, and they're certified alcohol addicts. So shoving Instagram in your brain the same way is the same disease, different symptoms.

frostysauce@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 177d

Pfft. I've drank for 16 hours many a day and I'm not dead.

bitjunkie@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 177d

Hell yeah

vpol@feddit.uk · 20 pts · 178d (3 replies)

I child a day is not a pedophile.

very_well_lost@lemmy.world · 18 pts · 178d (1 reply)

A child a day keeps the Attorney General away!

vpol@feddit.uk · 5 pts · 178d
XLE@piefed.social · 3 pts · 178d

If this Instagram guy was as dodgy about defining pedophilia as he was about defining addiction, everybody here would have no trouble identifying him as a pedophile protector

Clbull@lemmy.world · 20 pts · 178d (3 replies)

Why does he look like Steve Carrell playing a sociopathic big tech asshole?

Monfreaky444@lemmy.zip · 3 pts · 178d

Thought it was the Verizon guy.

Blackmist@feddit.uk · 2 pts · 177d

Like in Mountainhead.

Xella@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 177d

He looks like David Wallace

vane@lemmy.world · 15 pts · 178d (1 reply)

UltraGiGaGigantic@lemmy.ml · 1 pts · 177d

UltraViolence

kamen@lemmy.world · 13 pts · 177d

This has to be rage bait. I feel like the less time I'm on there, the happier I am. Even the 30 minutes daily limit that I usually set for apps like that is time I'm never getting back.

The only reason I have an account to begin with is because I'm a photographer (even if just a hobbyist) and I like to have some presence in the circles I'm in. If it wasn't for that, I wouldn't be there at all.

BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today · 11 pts · 178d

They want to be an integral part of our lives, like thinking, except they'll take the place of thinking, or talking, or even looking around.

lechekaflan@lemmy.world · 11 pts · 178d

Punchable face.

MehBlah@lemmy.world · 11 pts · 178d

You can trust ol empty eyes there. He knows what he is lying.

BadlyTimedLuck@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 178d

I dunno. I found it pretty addicting when I was holding both a vape and my phone, and I had doomscrolled for 9 hours till the battery died without having hit my vape once

pimpampoom@lemmy.zip · 9 pts · 177d

Coming from a potential cocaine sniffing addict that’s not surprising

zebidiah@lemmy.ca · 9 pts · 178d

What a smug stupid fucking lying face on this piece of shit.... He thinks he's fucking being cute with his little glasses and eyebrows feinting surprise

That lede photo is the very fucking epitome of the Upton Sinclair's "it is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on him not understanding it"

He is being paid hundreds of millions of dollars to pretend to be ignorant, to blatantly lie to people, while looking them straight in the eye. More money than you or me will ever see in all our combined lifetimes, to make that stupid fucking face

4shtonButcher@discuss.tchncs.de · 8 pts · 178d

Punching that guy in the face is not violence either, you know? /s

UltraGiGaGigantic@lemmy.ml · 5 pts · 177d (3 replies)

Of all my active addictions, none take 16 hours to satiate.

Void@feddit.nu · 4 pts · 177d (2 replies)

Well, Diablo 2 sure has for me.

Oodlenoodlenoo@lemmy.zip · 4 pts · 177d (1 reply)

Diablo 3 and Tiny Tina's done this for me

Mister_Hangman@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 177d

Tiny Tina omg

sturmblast@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 178d (1 reply)

Life is better without selling your data.

imetators@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 1 pts · 178d

Selling our data implies that we get to have profits.

Life is better without companies selling our data.

Might be tad more on point.

ChicoSuave@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 178d

"That's not addiction. They can log off anytime. Bro, it's called commitment."

TigerAce@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 4 pts · 178d

My dealer says the same

NottaLottaOcelot@lemmy.ca · 4 pts · 178d

Well, it’s very simple, don’t you see? When he makes money, it’s not addiction When he makes no money, it’s addiction

imetators@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 3 pts · 178d

What did Snapchat and TikTok settle for? Did they just pay money to not to expose themselves in court? Or did they actually settled to FUCKING FINALLY crack down on addiction and other issues on their platform? (x) Doubt

Godric@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 178d (1 reply)

Gotcha, I can do 16 hours of Insta on coke off the toilet seat and be OK. Thank you CDC!

UltraGiGaGigantic@lemmy.ml · 3 pts · 177d

16 hours of doing coke? Im never gonna financially recover from this.

SlurpingPus@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 178d

First stage: denial.

ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 3 pts · 178d

"Because like 10hr of that is background usage while we harvest your data."

TheProtagonist@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 177d

It's not a bug - it's a feature!

Tollana1234567@lemmy.today · 2 pts · 178d

Instagram, really is ZUCKERBoRG using his puppets in his stead.

ParlimentOfDoom@piefed.zip · 1 pts · 178d (2 replies)

He's right, it's whatever we call the next stage up from addiction.

Oh, fuck this article. He didn't say it wasn't . He just didn't even mention the word at all.

XLE@piefed.social · 6 pts · 178d (1 reply)

He just didn't even mention the word at all.

Did we read the same article? You can literally search for where he uses the word.

jballs@sh.itjust.works · 6 pts · 178d

"It's important to differentiate between clinical addiction and problematic use," he added.

"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."

Yeah, I dunno what article that dude read. Or didn't read, apparently.

ayyy@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 178d

Do better, BBC.

Doomsider@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 178d
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Morphite88@thelemmy.club · 1 pts · 178d

When I read Instagram boss: Instagram boss