Social Media Paradox
FREN
Inside the attention system

What could change the system

The system is not fixed. Public rules, platform metrics, business models, user-defined goals, collective pressure, and practical actions can move social media toward healthier outcomes.

wellbeing-risks

Unintended social harms

Content that holds attention can amplify conflict, extremity, anxiety, compulsion or distorted public debate.

They can emerge when many actors follow local incentives.

government

Government

Governments balance economic activity, public wellbeing, rights and political pressure.

They can shape the environment in which platforms compete rather than leaving every decision to companies or individuals.

regulation

Rules arrive late

Technology moves faster than policy, research and enforcement.

By the time rules arrive, habits, markets and infrastructure may already be built around the old incentives.

economic-growth

Growth supports public needs

Governments also want growth because it supports jobs, tax revenue and public services.

That makes the public response complicated: the same industry can create economic value and social risk.

limited-control

Limited control

Governments can act, but their control is limited by speed, lobbying, jurisdiction, enforcement and growth concerns.

This is why the system can keep reproducing itself even when many people can see the problem.

platform-company

Tech company

The company builds the infrastructure and decides which outcomes its systems should optimise.

It responds to users, advertisers, investors, employees, laws and competitors. These pressures do not always point in the same direction.

Sources

  • 2x more effective than close friends at opening a door to a new employer. Rajkumar et al., Science, 2022
  • $88.8B in U.S. social media advertising revenue in 2024, according to the IAB/PwC report. IAB, 2025