A quarter of young people spend more than eight hours a day on their phones, grappling with heavy screen times driven by algorithmic designs that mimic a casino effect.
Social media algorithms are specifically engineered to capture and hold user attention, according to Stefan van der Stigchel, a professor of cognitive psychology at Utrecht University. Research shows that this intermittent reinforcement schedule proves far more addictive than a stream of consistently entertaining videos.
For a young social media user named Jasmijn, excessive phone usage escalated sharply after a scooter accident in 2023, Pointer reported.
Confined to a hospital bed for a long recovery period, Jasmijn watched her daily screen time surge to 12 hours. Although she initially wanted to practice the piano or learn a new language to pass the time, the constant stream of online activity offered an easy escape from negative emotions.
“You see other people doing fun things, so you want to be part of it online,” Jasmijn told Pointer. “The dopamine rush is nice for your negative feelings at such a moment. Just like watching a movie, you can escape reality a little bit.”
Van der Stigchel explained that unlike watching a calm film, short video feeds require rapid task-switching due to the high speed and intensity of incoming information. This constant shifting takes a heavy toll on attentional control.
“We know that we now have a generation that can concentrate for less time than the generation before,” Van der Stigchel told Pointer. “You have to see concentration as a muscle. If you don’t train that, you will experience problems.”
Jasmijn experiences these cognitive consequences firsthand after spending entire days scrolling through applications. She reports severe fatigue, sleep disturbances, and academic interference when she reaches for her device during class. Van der Stigchel said that depleted attention batteries make it difficult to actively engage with study materials and encode memories. Heavy phone use displaces essential activities like physical movement, rest, and face-to-face social contact.
Van der Stigchel pointed out that technology companies often question long-term mental health links simply to buy time and create confusion. A political party recently introduced a legislative proposal to classify addictive algorithmic tricks as illegal unfair commercial practices. The party hopes the Dutch initiative will compel the European Union to take action, mirroring previous French efforts to establish age limits on social media platforms.
Jasmijn still struggles to keep her daily screen time down, despite making multiple attempts to quit or limit her phone use.
“This is really a day that you can also go outside and have fun with your friends,” Jasmijn told Pointer while reflecting on her habits during a sunny afternoon interview.
“I notice that my phone costs quite a lot in life and that is pretty sad, because it is just very easy to grab your phone for amusement.”
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