“User Engagement” Is Code for “Addiction”

Re:“User Engagement” Is Code for “Addiction” by bluefirebrand on Tuesday February 16, 2021 @09:57AM (#26154398)

You scoff, but would you honestly say those concerns were entirely unfounded?

Habits we develop as children tend to persist through our lives. People who grew up very active tend to stay at least a little active, people who grew up eating healthy diets will tend to continue to eat well. The opposite also tends to be true.

We have record levels of obesity in many developed nations now. There's a lot to blame for that, but surely our sedentary lifestyles is a factor. That includes watching too much TV.

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Re:“User Engagement” Is Code for “Addiction” by soledades on Tuesday February 16, 2021 @06:56PM (#26160553)

>In 2017, an average U.S. consumer spent 238 minutes (3h 58min) daily watching TV.

...more or less a humanitarian catastrophe

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Re:“User Engagement” Is Code for “Addiction” by thundergolfer on Tuesday February 16, 2021 @10:27PM (#26162290)

Neil Postman’s argument about the “now this” incoherence of television also applies doubly to today’s tech like TikTok and Reddit.

If TV was generally bad (as Postman argues) then video-based social media is awful, and worse than Postman ever predicted.

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