Are digital platforms responsible for the decline in young people's social connection and mental health?

Jeff Lawson · Jun 28, 2021 · hedged

Technology is at an inflection point: much of what big tech offers on the internet does not genuinely serve people as human beings, and the next five years should bring ways to make pervasive technology actually improve us rather than drive more consumption.

Current internet products from giant tech companies feel oriented toward getting people to buy more rather than making them better.

Scope: framed as a hope for the next five years

43:19 20VC: Twilio's Jeff Lawson on What It Takes To Create a Tribe, How To Create Anti-Fragile Organisations Through Decentralised Decision-Making and Why Values Are Nice But Principles Are Better

Akshay Kothari · Sep 18, 2024

As long as social apps are optimising to maximise attention time, feeds will inevitably spiral toward crap, violence and sadness, so the app's incentive mechanism has to change

The content outcome follows directly from the objective the app is maximising, not from user choice

43:57 20VC: Notion's Founder on "Founder Mode": When it Works & When it Doesn't | Why The Way Startups Fundraise & Construct Boards is Broken | Raising at a $10BN Valuation in Peak Bubble Times and How Notion Has More Money Than Ever Before with Akshay Kothari

Everett Randle · Nov 10, 2025

When capitalism's optimization pressure shifted from physical goods to human attention, it produced significant negative consequences — social media's optimization for screen time is probably the only real harm technology has done to society so far.

Capitalism is extremely good at optimizing whatever it targets; aimed at getting people to glue their faces to screens, that efficiency became a harm.

Scope: 'probably' the only negative technology has had thus far

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Harry Stebbings · Sep 18, 2024

Your feed is what you make it, but most people are perpetually drawn to crap, violence and sadness

His own feed is protein recipes, gym content and inspirational speeches, and is therefore uplifting

Scope: responsibility sits with the user; most people's revealed preference is for negative content

43:38 20VC: Notion's Founder on "Founder Mode": When it Works & When it Doesn't | Why The Way Startups Fundraise & Construct Boards is Broken | Raising at a $10BN Valuation in Peak Bubble Times and How Notion Has More Money Than Ever Before with Akshay Kothari

Harry Stebbings · Jan 15, 2025

It is unfair to demonize social media because your content diet is a human responsibility, like choosing chocolate versus vegetables

His own feed of motivational speeches, recipes and workouts is highly additive to his life, showing outcomes depend on user choices

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Nick Frosst · Sep 1, 2025

Two conflicting things must be held at once: the dissolution of community is a real worry that technologists must weigh, and every generation has always believed its own era is the worst

People genuinely feel disconnected and seek technology that reconnects them; but the same lament recurs historically, from Greek philosophers attacking writing to complaints about newspapers on buses

Scope: holds both positions simultaneously rather than choosing

54:11 20VC: Cohere Founder on How Cohere Compete with OpenAI and Anthropic $BNs | Why Counties Should Fund Their Own Models & the Need for Model Sovereignty | How Sam Altman Has Done a Disservice to AI with Nick Frosst

Harry Stebbings · Sep 1, 2025

Every generation looks back and believes life was better in their time — it is a continuous pattern rather than evidence of actual decline

Baz Luhrmann's 'Wear Sunscreen' commencement speech articulates exactly this recurring nostalgia about prices, rudeness and the past

55:49 20VC: Cohere Founder on How Cohere Compete with OpenAI and Anthropic $BNs | Why Counties Should Fund Their Own Models & the Need for Model Sovereignty | How Sam Altman Has Done a Disservice to AI with Nick Frosst

Joelle Pineau · Nov 3, 2025

Time spent in digital worlds is not inherently antisocial — online gaming with friends is still a genuinely social experience; the real shift is that social connection is migrating onto these platforms

Two of her children spend a lot of time playing online games with friends and the experience remains very social, while others' digital experience is more individual

50:01 Online play is genuinely social connection is migrating not disappearing

Joelle Pineau · Nov 3, 2025

Attributing the mental health crisis to platforms and AI is a shortcut; the problem warrants far more research rather than short answers

People who are suffering deserve real solutions and good answers, and too many are reaching for shortcut explanations

51:40 Blaming platforms is a shortcut the causes need real research

Victor Riparbelli · Jan 15, 2025

Calling short-form video consumption 'dopamine addiction' isn't a meaningful criticism, since nearly everything humans do — including sports — is driven by seeking feel-good rewards

Most things we do are attempts to make ourselves feel good in some way, so dopamine-seeking doesn't distinguish good activities from bad ones

46:04 Dopamine framing is meaningless criticism since all human activity seeks reward

Victor Lazarte · Apr 14, 2025

Social media is a net positive for relationships but only scratches the surface — products like Instagram are not set up to help people connect anywhere near as deeply as they could

He met his wife through Instagram and is grateful it exists, but the way the product is designed does little to serve the deeper human need to be seen and understood

14:20 Social media is net positive but underdelivers on deep connection