ISTANBUL
Social media algorithms designed to keep users engaged for long periods are contributing to digital addiction, particularly among children and adolescents, a mental health specialist said.
Ilyas Kaya, an assistant professor specializing in child and adolescent mental health disorders at Istanbul University, said social media platforms increasingly rely on algorithms that aim to maximize the time users spend online.
He compared the systems to “digital slot machines,” explaining that platforms continuously adjust the content shown to users to maintain their attention.
According to Kaya, many users — especially adolescents and young people — become addicted to social media platforms as algorithms learn their preferences and deliver increasingly engaging content.
A social media addiction case involving children in Los Angeles has become one of the major legal challenges confronting technology companies, he noted.
Kaya said that although stricter measures are increasingly being introduced to protect children and young people online, court cases against social media companies are continuing.
He defined social media addiction as “the inability to control social media usage despite all the negative effects it may have on the individual.”
Platforms encourage users to remain logged in as long as possible while analyzing their interactions with content.
“As they start knowing you little by little, they start displaying content specifically attractive to you one after another,” he said.
“Content that triggers emotional responses like joy, anger, fear, curiosity, and satisfaction come to the fore, and these algorithms are personalized for each person,” he noted. “Meanwhile, the infinite scrolling mechanism of these platforms makes it so that there is no point of stopping, which pulls in the user like a swamp.”
Kaya added that social media platforms operate largely on advertising revenue, meaning the more time users spend on the platform, the more advertisements they see.
“One may think they are accessing content for free but these platforms make the money off of users,” he said. “Algorithms are put in place to exploit our psychological weaknesses, like curiosity, the need for approval, and dopamine — these systems that present to you exactly what you want to see and hear are described by many experts to be a sort of digital slot machines.”
Harm in children and adolescents
Kaya warned that excessive social media use among children and adolescents can contribute to several mental health problems.
These include “major depression, anxiety, sleep disorders, attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), body dysmorphia, eating disorders (ED), cyberbullying (one of the most severe types of peer bullying), child abuse, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD),” he said.
“These conditions can also result in being susceptible to other addictions like gambling, as well as personality disorders in adulthood,” he added.
Kaya said children and adolescents are particularly vulnerable because their psychological and neurological development is still ongoing.
“The constant need to be liked and approved by others, and the formation of false perceptions of things like ‘everyone’s happier, richer, more successful, and more … than I am,’ contribute to the already existing fragility in this period of development — so we can say that families’ claim that these platforms propagate psychological harm is not unfounded,” he said.
He added that as more countries consider or implement restrictions on social media use for children under the age of 16, the full scale of the negative effects of digital addiction may become clearer.
Kaya said bans and parental controls may be necessary but should not be the only solution.
“The age restriction is not arbitrary but a serious and important issue for children and adolescents,” he said. “However, completely isolating children is neither realistic nor possible, as digital literacy has become very important, and controlling and imposing restrictions or bans alone are not the solution, but to teach children age- and developmentally-appropriate use of these platforms is the solution.”
Activities with healthier dopamine rewards
Kaya also suggested several practical steps for individuals who believe they may be addicted to social media or digital content.
He recommended disabling social media notifications and messages.
“You can set time limits, put your phone away an hour before bedtime, keep your phone out of your work area and bedroom, and use grayscale color filters for your phone display,” he said.
“The brain’s visual reward system is triggered less without colors, so the phone starts feeling boring, and you find asking yourself, ‘why am I even opening this app right now,’ and this leads to you noticing when you automatically open social media apps when you’re bored, and consciously make an effort to reduce this behavior, and replace it with activities offering natural and slow dopamine rewards,” he added.
Kaya said excessive social media use also leads to constant social comparison, with users often viewing others’ lives as more successful or happier than their own.
This dynamic, he said, is linked to low self-esteem, depression and the fear of missing out (FOMO).
He noted that these US lawsuits are not entirely baseless, as the excessive use of these platforms result in eating disorders, sleep problems, and even suicidal ideation.
“Children and young people are much more vulnerable than adults to these algorithms and to the impact the excessive use may have on their attention issues, as their prefrontal cortex — the decision-making and impulse control center of the brain — is not fully developed,” he said.
“Placing boundaries or restrictions can protect children from the dopamine cycle until their brain is fully developed and reduce long-term psychological harm, and even peer pressure can be eliminated with further monitoring and supervision on these platforms,” he added.
