3 Comments
Nov 30, 2021Liked by Jeff Becker

“To reach those heights you need scale and growth, and for growth you need addiction. Addiction is in opposition to our social & mental health.”

As someone building a platform with a social element, I have spent a ton of time thinking about this issue in hopes of avoiding it. A major focus on mine is getting people outside to improve their mental health.

It’s a difficult conundrum. When I ask people what app they are most addicted to it’s almost always Instagram or recently, tik tok. I rarely hear people say they are addicted to scrolling Strava or Spotify, yet these platforms are successful and have social elements.

I think we can avoid the addictive elements of a platform if it serves a purpose beyond distraction, but rather offer tools that empower people to do more than just distract themselves. Jury is still out on that one though.

What has your experience been with addictive tech?

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