So we are reviewing our flow data, and it’s very clear, on our network, that during the period Facebook were experiencing their global outage, Netflix traffic went up 3X for us.
The psychological assessment of this, for me, is most interesting; especially because like carbohydrates, social media addiction does not create “medically immediate” mental harm, unlike other addictions such as cocaine, heroine, crystal meth, LSD, alcohol, e.t.c., which governments and the medical fraternity are quick to label as “dangerous to human health due to their addictive properties”.
Could Netflix, perhaps, play a part in mitigating the increasing impact of social media addiction in teenagers, whose young brains aren’t developed enough to have sufficient executive control, impulse control and good judgement?
In the words of Spock, “Fascinating!”
Mark.
A psychologist would probably describe this as “self soothing behavior”
An addiction specialist would identify it as illicit drug substitution : https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7370931/
Yeah… I mean people couldn’t get stuck in the DoomScroll, so they chose to do something else. I’m sure plenty of people did something besides Netflix.
Your reflection is the same as mine - we enjoy sedentary lives, staring at some kind of electronic. No doubt about that. It's not unlike why most people that give up cigarettes end up gaining weight, because they give up nicotine, and replace it with chronic excessive consumption of carbohydrates :-).
However, if we are going to Netflix as an alternative to "scrolling through time lines like droids on a train", then perhaps something that stimulates our brain and prevents it from shrinking due to a lack of complex body movements that the brain is mainly designed to manage, is what Netflix could look into, for humanity's sake.
Mark.
Which they probably will, but it won't be labeled as dangerous or leading to immediate mental harm. And as such, will fly under the radar as an addiction that needs to be managed in the same way we manage opioid addiction, heroine addiction, sex addiction, alcohol addiction, nicotine addiction, e.t.c. All the stuff we have anonymous groups and sponsors for.
Mark.
For sure.
We just happened to measure Netflix on our side. I'm certain other operators measuring other apps likely saw the same thing.
Mark.
Which they probably will, but it won’t be labeled as dangerous or
leading to immediate mental harm.
There is already lots of published research on social media addiction that does call it out just that strongly.
There is a reason why that company has started going to great lengths in recent years to make it harder for outside researchers to do similar work.
There is already lots of published research on social media addiction that does call it out just that strongly.
Oh no, I didn't mean that the research to link social media addiction to long-term mental harm does not exist. It's just that such research will be ignored or buried under piles of stone to never see the light of common day, so that BigCorporate can keep cashing in on our addictions.
As a practical example of life-saving research-stomping, between the US$1.5 trillion food industry, the pharmaceutical industry, the medical fraternity and the medical insurance companies, there is a reason why the globe spends US$1 billion on insulin therapy for Type 2 Diabetes. Every. Single. Day. And the research about how T2D can be successfully reversed, through diet alone, has been around for over a decade:
There is a reason why that company has started going to great lengths in recent years to make it harder for outside researchers to do similar work.
Exactly my point, above.
And sadly, little young Jane + Thabo won't be looking for social media feeds on how to get their social media addiction under control.
Look, I like all this traffic, and it brings in revenue for my business. But I'm starting to wonder whether it's all worth it, if we end up creating a generation with significantly less brain function, for the first time in our evolution, less than 50, 60, 70 years from now.
Mark.
Look, I like all this traffic, and it brings in revenue for my business.
But I’m starting to wonder whether it’s all worth it, if we end up
creating a generation with significantly less brain function, for the
first time in our evolution, less than 50, 60, 70 years from now.
I feel you man. I’ve had plenty of existential crisis moments in the last handful of years. I enjoy what I do and the compensation/opportunities that come with it, and it is always amazing to see some of the wonderful things that have happened in the world because of all the work that has been put in to connect people. But it often bothers me that at the same time it’s helped more nefarious elements of societies to connect more easily too, and enabled them to do more bad things more easily.
Overall I do think the good outweighs the bad , but occasionally things happen in the world that make me really wonder. I’m sure my therapist is sick of hearing about it by now. 
Hi,
So we are reviewing our flow data, and it's very clear, on our network, that
during the period Facebook were experiencing their global outage, Netflix
traffic went up 3X for us.
Who says they were ... ahem ... watching? 
I'd be interested to see global birth rates in June 2022...
Thanks,
Sabri
Who says they were ... ahem ... watching?
I considered that... and decided that scrolling the Netflix library doesn't create that much data :-).
Of course, who pays 100% attention anymore these days. You've watched an episode if it was playing. Whether you actually saw it or not, is irrelevant :-).
Perhaps folk were watching "How to fix Facebook on your iThingy".
I'd be interested to see global birth rates in June 2022...
Hehehe....
Mark.
Well, I did just see a story that PornHub’s traffic increased by about 10 percent during that time…
-Andy