The New York Times journalist Max Fisher analyzes in the almost 500 pages of his book 'The networks of chaos' (Península, 2024), how social networks have impoverished people's minds and eroded social and democratic consciousness. In a work of monumental journalistic investigation, due to its length and exhaustiveness, Fisher explains that the culture of 'like' directed by the algorithm "is probably the greatest collective experiment of humanity" and that its influence is much deeper than what we imagine. His thesis is that our brains and our behaviors are at the mercy of an unethical industry whose sole objective is to appropriate our time and attention to convert it into money.
The New York City Government has been the first to file a formal lawsuit against the companies that own these social platforms for causing “a youth mental health crisis.” It accuses them of manipulating children and encouraging “compulsive use of their products” intentionally and negligently. And it has even quantified this impact: 38% of New Yorkers in high school recognize mental health problems, compared to 27% a decade ago. This represents a spending of 100 million dollars a year on programs and services to support the mental health of the young population. References in the prevention of suicidal behavior in Spain such as clinical psychologist Francisco Villar encourage imitating the American example.
“Covid made visible an existing and until then somewhat hidden reality: we have an emotionally vulnerable society. Since then, we are more aware that our mental health is at risk. And specifically that of youth, a moment of change of references, of generation of criteria and of personal construction that is experienced with internal instability,” says Mireia Cabero, psychologist and expert in emotional health.
Additionally, the pandemic exacerbated the dependence on social networks and the use of mobile phones, depriving adults (even more) of their role as referents for these young people and constantly exposing them to a loop of inappropriate information stripped of context that affects to your mental health.
The anthropologist and journalist Miquel Pellicer, currently director of Digital Communication at the UOC, observes that the model of social networks and their usability design encourages this need to “prolong our interest”, although it is not a genuine interest but rather a fake one. And this happens in a context that many young people perceive as unstable, both from a sociopolitical, economic and even environmental point of view.
Even before the pandemic, sociologists were referring to this changing environment as the 'VUCA world' (volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous). The consequences of this perception of reality on the mental health of the youth population are increasingly visible, and they have also received a surname in the form of an acronym: BANI (for its meaning in English, Brittle, Anxious, Nonlinear and Incomprehensible).
“Young people have grown up in an environment that, through the experiences of their reference adults, they perceive as constant, accelerated and unpredictable change,” considers psychotherapist and coach Mireia Cabero. This generates mental and emotional exhaustion that, for psychologist Gloria Rodríguez, is behind the “laziness” that many adults notice in the “generations of now” that come after them, attributing to them – sometimes pejoratively – excessive fragility.
“Their attitude towards life is the sum of the hopeless future that they draw in their mind and a parallel reality (reality through the screen) where they choose to escape through the pleasure of consuming, something that requires 0 effort, 0 patience and where unreal relationships live. The outside world requires effort, attention, building your life, studying or working, assuming responsibilities, managing conflicts and frustrations. In short, the minimum interests compared to the world inside the screens, where they consume 'a la carte'," Cabero reflects.
In his research on the impact of networks on our minds, Max Fisher refers to the sociometer theory of self-esteem. “Social apps take over a compulsion – the need to connect with other people – that can be more powerful than hunger or greed (…) It's not just that 'Likes' provide the social validation we put so much energy into to achieve: it is that they offer it with an immediacy and magnitude unknown in human experience,” he writes.
Scientific studies have discovered that when we receive a 'Like', neuronal activity is turned on in a part of the brain called the nucleus accumbens: the area that activates dopamine. People with a smaller nucleus accumbens – a trait associated with addictive tendencies – are more exposed to these validation markers. With every thumbs up, retweet, or heart emoji they receive a dopamine rush similar to what gambling addicts get when they pull the lever on a slot machine.
The challenges posed by this dictatorship of instant validation are gigantic. When it comes to our children, psychologist Cabero points out that “it is essential to keep them in the real world, helping them to consider the meaning of life, self-realization, effort and the construction of their own life project. The excitement of real life is infinitely richer and more satisfying than that of life behind a screen. But you have to experience it to be convinced of it.” In one idea: it is necessary to push them to assume their life outside the network. Because unlike those who were not born in the digital age, many of them do not know any other way of relating other than through a screen, and consequently they are less competent when it comes to building and managing real social relationships.
Other effects are already being seen that many specialists attribute to the abuse of mobile phones and networks. The results of the latest PISA report scared parents and governors, although they did not surprise teachers. The mobile phone is pointed out as the culprit, but specialists go further: “Being used to brief audiovisual impacts, it is more difficult for them to read and concentrate,” says Miquel Pellicer. It is not a handicap exclusive to young people. It happens to all of us who are hooked on our cell phones.
But it is obvious that this context predicts problems with reading comprehension and linguistic skills in young people, in addition to a potential decrease in their creativity: “Time in class and in books is slower than the speed of video games, scrolling , and the videos they consume. They have not trained patience, attention span, or interest in learning, and they do not take the time to get bored and create interesting solutions to their boredom,” observes Mireia Cabero.
There are also concerns about the consequences in the medium term, when they enter the labor market. Their youth references, mostly streamers, influencers, models and other famous people in general, arouse professional interests in them that are far from the professions that society needs. And last but not least, what many analysts consider the greatest threat from these 'networks of chaos': the danger they pose to democracies. In these days of pre-election campaign in the United States, 8 years have passed since what ultimately became the biggest scandal in the history of social networks: the use by Cambridge Analytica of Facebook data to manipulate voters .
Today the concern is not the sale of data to the highest bidder, but the direct effect that the rise of populist speeches through the networks has on voters: “We are already seeing how political movements with less scruples use the networks to manipulate people, with campaigns based on viral videos, hoaxes or fake news that often have a direct impact on the results of the elections,” says the UOC communications director.
And all this without putting the factor of artificial intelligence into the equation. “It's not about giving an apocalyptic vision of reality, but you have to be aware of how everything is changing,” says Pellicer. In an article published in December 2023, this expert proposes a series of indicators to evaluate the ethical and democratic impact of social platforms, which he has called the 'Digital Development Index'.
So, are there green shoots in the relationship of younger people with technology? “Of course,” responds Mireia Cabero: “Technology allows them to travel the world without moving, to approach their topics of interest at no cost and to be more informed than ever. As they are no longer protected from information, they receive stimuli that sensitize them and equip them for life. It is, furthermore, a generation that will master emotional intelligence and technology in such a way that they will be able to put it at the service of social challenges,” she concludes.
