Report: Facebook likened to Addictive Drugs, for Sake of Ads

One of the earliest investors in Facebook and Google has likened the effects of major Internet companies on users to the effects of addictive drugs. Roger McNamee accused the companies of "aggressive brain hacking" to make their ad business more profitable.

Writing for USA Today before discussing the topic on NBC, McNamee also likened the companies' behavior to that of the gambling industry. He said they "exploit human nature, creating addictive behaviors that compel consumers to check for new messages, respond to notifications, and seek validation from technologies whose only goal is to generate profits for their owners." (Source: usatoday.com)

Users Get Mini-'Hits'

McNamee's argument is based on the idea that online sites, particularly social media, are deliberately designed to give users small hits of happiness that don't have long-term benefits. Instead users are addicted to returning to the site regularly to get a "fix", thus exposing them to more ads.

The column says social networking and search tools themselves aren't the problem, and that they can be valuable for users. Instead, the problem according to McNamee is companies manipulating their products for the benefits of advertisers.

Among the examples cited in the piece are Facebook experiments about manipulating the mood of users by adjusting what they see in their news feeds, as well as exploring whether it could be possible to target ads at teenagers whose online activity indicated they were depressed.

Accountability In Question

McNamee also highlighted what he called a lack of accountability for the biggest companies because of their size, and the way their services cross national borders. He noted that the user bases of Facebook and YouTube are similar in size to the biggest world religions, telling NBC that the companies "are allowed to run experiments across a population of 2 billion people without being accountable for what happens."

Speaking later to Business Insider, he said "The executives at Google and Facebook are good people but the unintended consequences of their well-intended strategy is causing enormous harm to society, to democracy and to the economy." (Source: businessinsider.com)

What's Your Opinion?

Do you agree with McNamee's views? Is it fair to liken the effects of social media and search tools to addictive drugs and gambling? Should major Internet firms be held more accountable for the effects they have on users, and is that even possible to do?