Many of the big tech companies, especially Meta / X / Reddit, are the modern day equivalent of tobacco companies. I was a former smoker. Yes my mom should have done a better job preventing me from becoming one. But they were in fact designed to get my young self addicted, and that's a problem. Once we regulated them, it stopped happening nearly as much. I think a very constructive way to converse about this problem, is to focus less on who has the most fault or blame, and focus entirely on: Can policy help, and if so, how? Example:
- Require age verification only for apps with algorithmic feed (obv. definition requires some nuance)
- Substantial tax on companies utilizing algorithmic feeds
- Require (regular) disclaimers and time monitors that are automatically shared with users on the platforms
- Ban usage rewards (e.g. Reddit tries to reward me for daily usage with stickers and such, why?)
I basically agree with you but I see your point as downstream of my basic point, because a 4 year old isn't going to get exposed to any of these companies tactics without the parent's consent
