I’ve asked this question to a few non-tech friends. They definitely know and recognize the harms of using social media, but for many them just struggle to quit. They don’t even know how to put their addictions into words.
There were a few who also used it because it’s easy to keep up with family or friends who might live far away (which is a really valid use case!) and have no problem quitting it or never checking.
These products are designed to be addicting. My hypothesis is that folks might recognize the harm but since the downside is reducing the quality of your mental state (FB doesn’t increase your risk of cancer ala smoking). It’s just not a priority to fix the addiction.
There were a few who also used it because it’s easy to keep up with family or friends who might live far away (which is a really valid use case!) and have no problem quitting it or never checking.
These products are designed to be addicting. My hypothesis is that folks might recognize the harm but since the downside is reducing the quality of your mental state (FB doesn’t increase your risk of cancer ala smoking). It’s just not a priority to fix the addiction.