I believe it is. We saw the same thing with the rise of cable and reality TV and teenagers watching endless reruns of the Kardashians and the Osbournes as it was the first time you could watch shows back to back for days on end.
With Video Games we had the introduction of the MMO and news stories of people forgetting to feed their kids, and even dying in their homes from not looking after themselves properly.
People are the problem, not the tech. As long as people are willing to be lazy and allow their brains to be subjected to a constant stream of repetetive digital content for entertainement, then we will have these issues.
I think the tech has raised stimulation levels exponentially, which feeds people's desire to consume in ways that was impossible in the past. But, I also think your examples are quite valid, and what we're seeing here now is probably only marginally worse than Neil Postman days back in the '80s and '70s when TV was the big boogeyman. Meaning that our society has already been screwed for half a century, and we should probably try to look at the problem through this lens rather than just trying to turn back the clock by a mere decade or two.
Maybe things were already bad when radio achieved mass adoption and people couldn't get enough of it? Maybe in some ways today's unlimited aural stimulation, of having access to music and podcasts at any moment, is also unnatural and undesirable for mental health?
Yes I like the idea that we need to go back about 50 years to really see the root of this. IMO it is visual media in general which is causing these issues (TV/Games/Social Media) which started probably in the 70s.
The difference is so obvious. I think the people who deny it either haven't seen the tech's impact on people or they are coping as an addict themself. It's totally the same as a good book you guys!!
My girlfriend and some friends are captivated by doomscrolling tiktok/insta. They'll do it and let hours pass if left undisturbed.
They can't watch TV or play games for hours because that gets boring and samey.
On the other hand, my girlfriend will aspire to play a game she bought or watch a show she wants to watch, but then get immediately sabotaged by instagram shorts because it's so much more stimulating.
Its nothing like a book, however it is very similar to addiction on MMO games like World of warcraft and Roblox.
> They can't watch TV or play games for hours because that gets boring and samey.
I would argue that its not because its boring, its because it doesnt give as frequent rewards for engagement and so becomes less attractive for the user.
> get immediately sabotaged by instagram shorts because it's so much more stimulating
Its not stimulation, its lazyness. I guarantee that anybody would get more stimulation from investment in a decent story in a book, movie, or game, but it takes more effort to get there. Its much easier to get that tiny hit of dopamine from a 10 second video than it is to invest 2 hours into a story to get a decent payoff. Its this lazyness of wanting the easy hit instead of putting the time in that is making people put down that book and jump on Instagram.
That's not at all the same as TV, video games, or rock music.