What happens when we can’t resist persuasive technology?

–Mahika, 15, San Francisco, CA

–Tim Kendall, Former Facebook Executive, in The Social Dilemma

–Jeff Seibert, Former Twitter Executive, in The Social Dilemma

We’ll never be fully free of our biases in cognition and perception; they’re part of being human and we need them to survive. As the quotes above indicate, we are all susceptible to these effects, even those who created these technologies in the first place.

We began this discussion by looking at how prevalent persuasive technology is in our daily lives. When we look at the intersections between the brain and these technologies, we can see that giant social media companies grew so quickly because they mastered how to hack our brains.

We are all affected by technology to different degrees. We can find ways to resist its effects. But persuasive technologies are constantly getting better at finding our vulnerabilities and taking advantage of them to keep us engaged and influence our behavior. As social media takes on a bigger role in the world—how we connect online, how we get information, who we vote for—it shapes more and more of what we're thinking and feeling. Even if we know it’s happening, we end up with less and less control over who we are and what we really believe.

To explore these consequences, let’s again take a closer look at our own experiences.

Listen to social psychologist Jonathan Haidt on the Center for Humane Technology’s Your Undivided Attention podcast. Jonathan discusses his work with fellow psychologist Jean Twenge that shows the connection between the youth mental health crisis and the rise of social media use.