Do you remember getting booted out of the house after watching too many TV shows?  Do you remember sending in coupons to cereal or other sellers of addictive products in order to get a prize?  Do you remember being told that your schoolmates or neighbours would think you had achieved a certain social status if you wore this brand of sneaker?  Did thinkers worry about TV programming creating a (racist) monoculture?

I think there is a case that the so-called addictive nature of social media is more a matter of degree than of kind.  ‘Ancient’ electronic media was addictive, often participatory, created validation issues, manipulated culture.  Hysterical fandom is older than Beatlemania.

Just a reminder about addictive cultural behaviour.  Remember that people lined up at the docks to receive the latest cliffhanger chapter of a Wilkie Collins novel.

I understand the differences.  As examples,

• Speed and customization of social/cultural feedback.
• ‘Personalization’ of validation.
• Lack of temporal limits (broadcast or publication dates); continuous feedback.

And I understand that social media can lead to anti-social or damaging behaviours.  But I am not convinced that Meta or YouTube are engaging in necessarily more pernicious behaviour than Willkie Collins or Kellogg’s of Battle Creek.