Social Media Algorithms Are Raising a Generation of Permanent Children

It's this erasure of friction that has social media algorithms raising a generation of permanent children.

A child believes their emotions are facts. If they're angry, the world is wrong. If they're scared, the world must be dangerous. When they want ice cream, you either give it to them or you're a baddie. Until recently, the way we, as was certainly true for me, transitioned from childhood to adulthood was to be repeatedly knocked down until we realized we weren't the centre of the universe.

Because algorithms are perpetually catering to our desires, they reinforce a childlike view that you deserve whatever you want or feel however you feel. While this ongoing "reinforcement" is unhealthy at any age, it's particularly harmful for those in their formative years, as they're not getting an actual sense of the world's indifference to their values, beliefs, discomforts, or whatever they’ve labelled themselves as being a victim of. Today’s youth don't encounter the friction essential to growing up.

Growth requires the world to contradict you, something algorithms never do.

Social media arrived with the enticing promise of connection, democratization, empowerment and freedom from restraints. In our minds, we thought we were connecting, when in fact we were rehearsing separation from anyone whose views or lifestyle challenged our own or made us feel uncomfortable. Rapidly, like-minded digital silos were created, the Internet's and social media's biggest draw, making it unnecessary to deal with anyone with opposing views; the most visible consequence: the decline in social skills.

Social media is the largest psychological "petri dish" experiment in human history

Now, algorithms, coupled with AI, have us repeating the same mistake, only faster. Social media has made the spread of self-serving, curated truths and "falsehoods" easy, too easy. Thinking, our human edge, is needed more than ever to discern truth from fiction, yet we’re gladly outsourcing it to the machine.

Social media is the largest psychological "petri dish" experiment in human history, fundamentally altering social interaction, emotional well-being, and cognitive processes worldwide. The creators of social media platforms have long understood the many ways to keep people continually seeking the validation we all desire. As long as online relationships, for what they’re worth, don't fail you, there's no incentive to grow beyond them.

Statistics indicate that adult milestones, such as marriage and having children, are occurring later in life. People are taking fewer risks. Dating is plummeting. Increasingly, young people are replacing exploration and experimentation with seeking out online communities where their opinions and worldviews are validated and encouraged, and never questioned.

Generally, people view algorithms and AI as a futuristic threat. However, the real danger is a movie we've recently seen, allowing technology to redefine what it means to be young without considering what needs to be protected. It's unlikely that the companies creating these tools will slow down; their priorities are speed, scale, and profit, not childhood well-being. It's naive to expect Silicon Valley to take our kids' minds into account, especially given the financial stakes.

In the early days of social media, we missed our chance to stop the damage, which was glaringly visible: kids glued to screens, chasing likes, and losing focus. The damage being done, and continuing to be done, was both emotional and social. With algorithms and AI, the burgeoning threat is less visible yet deeper; it's changing how children and even adults think.

Almost welcome-like, we've allowed social media to steal our attention. Now we're allowing algorithms and AI to steal our mental abilities. We've let social media platforms seep into adolescence without question, only later recognizing the costs, such as significantly reduced attention spans, lowered self-esteem and self-worth, and even trust. Generation Y is considered the first generation to have come of age during the onset of social media and experience, and, of course, still do, the endless cycle of comparing themselves to staged posts by strangers, performing, and having spent a significant part of their childhood scrolling and watching 15-second bursts of "Look at me!" Even though this "allowing" was driven by economics, I wouldn't go so far as to say it was intentionally malicious, per se; however, it was, and unfortunately continues to be, thoughtless.

The real dystopia isn't the quintessential "killer robot" Hollywood trope, as depicted in 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Terminator. It's the stalling of young people's transition from their teenage years, when they're impulsive, to adulthood, because friction has been removed from the digital spaces where they spend more time than in the physical world. It's no wonder so many people lack the maturity to handle differing points of view, beliefs, or challenges.

Nick Kossovan, a self-described connoisseur of human psychology, writes about what’s on his mind from Toronto. You can follow Nick on Twitter and Instagram @NKossovan.