I think a big problem is we aren’t really sure what we’re looking for in social media. We see things that give us satisfying dopamine boosts and want more of it, but also feel the hollowness of it. It’s exactly like eating processed carbs when you’re starving. You end up addicted with cravings for more even as the stuff you’re consuming makes you sick.

I was there for the start of it all, I’ve seen the space evolve over the decades. I was out in the pioneering days championing free discussion and moderating huge communities. I love reading someone debating an idiot more than anyone arguably, I get the same sense of satisfaction seeing groups connect and share great ideas and jokes.

But I also know the pleasure gained from that kind of community is as contextual as it is fleeting. We are not the same people we were when we first read some chain-post replying in stupid memes until it got so absurd we’re laughing so hard we can’t breath and we’re waking up our housemates. We’re just not “that people” anymore. Even the younger people now are living in a different time, we are so desensitized to imagery and text on a screen that it won’t ever have the same impact on us, but it doesn’t stop us from looking everywhere for a hit of the ol’ drug.