Young people’s sudden disconnection from networks produces clinically diagnosed addiction symptoms

Evidence

The international “unplug” study helps to set the stage, for it reveals a range of emotional anguish summarized in six categories: addiction, failure to unplug, boredom, confusion, distress, and isolation. The students’ sudden disconnection from the network produced the kinds of cravings, depression, and anxiety that are characteristic of clinically diagnosed addictions. The result was that a majority in every country admitted that they could not last out the day unplugged. Their angst was compounded by the same Faustian pact with which we are all too familiar, as they discovered that nearly all daily logistical, communicative, and informational requirements were dependent upon their connected devices: “Meeting with friends became difficult or impossible, finding the way to a destination without an online map or access to the internet became a problem, and simply organizing an evening at home became a challenge.” — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1422

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the broader surveillance-capitalism thesis: dependence engineered into daily life, echoes the idea of behavioral surplus extraction resting on captive users. — connects to: Twenty-four hours offline triggers panic and loneliness in young people worldwide. — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1419; Overestimates of social media addiction are common and contribute to moral panic around social media use. — Overestimates of social media addiction are common but costly; Functioning addiction can hide depression behind a normal facade — Alain Ehrenberg, The Weariness of the Self: Diagnosing…, 607
• SEED: Angle: ‘the Faustian pact’ framing as a way to write about technological dependence as engineered lock-in rather than mere convenience.