Opinion: Stopping the spread of mass hysteria by Facebook, other social media platforms
How are angry mobs storming the Capitol and Facebook driving our daughters to bulimia related? Both were propelled by mass hysteria, a powerful force that drives human behavior.
As a psychiatrist and neuroscientist, I have studied how social contagion and the use of technology affect humans’ brains and behavior since the late 1970s. So I was concerned when whistleblower Francis Haugen exposed Facebook’s awareness of the mental health consequences of its algorithms on users. I instantly feared for my own daughter, as I’m sure many others did too.
