While reading this article, I wasn’t as surprised or disgusted in the ways that different social media companies use to hook us as what I thought I would be.  I’ve always felt that constantly being on your phone or laptop probably wasn’t the healthiest, but at the same time I feel as though we don’t have any other choice; this has made me pretty numb to all of the crazy things that come out against social media apps or smart phones in general.

I don’t necessarily agree that apps should be trying to make us become addicted to their products, but every marketer is essentially doing the same thing.  Fast food, cigarettes, and now social media  markets all want their products to be used by the largest population that they can reach, but so do organic food distributors.  All markets are going to sell their products in ways that appeal to the buyer; they all make the buyer feel as though they want more or can’t live without their product, and this manipulation shouldn’t be acceptable to anyone, no matter what the product is.

I haven’t experienced manipulation by social media firsthand, but I have definitely seen the negatives that staring at a screen can have on someone.  I’m constantly checking my phone, whether its for snapchat, Instagram, or anything else; I’m pretty much always on my phone, but I don’t feel as though there’s a way for me to just decide to quit using my phone or social media.  When social media becomes the only way that you have to keep up to date on school, work, and friends, you don’t have much of a choice other than to constantly check your phone.  I suffer from migraines, and they’re often triggered by extended amounts of time of my laptop (writing papers is the worst), but I’ve never thought, “I can just not use my laptop or phone, and all of my problems will go away!” because of how much society has changed to depend on the use of social media.