Why Do Kids Stay on Social Media If It Feels Worse?

Laurie Santos says kids stay on social media even when the products make them feel worse, because everybody else is using them. She calls the platforms product traps. Ask the average kid how much they would pay to be on social media and they do not want to pay. Ask how much they would have to be paid to get off and they say a lot, because everyone else is on there. Ask how much they would pay for a world with no social media at all and they are willing to pay a lot.

Bruce Reed says the companies are not acknowledging the problem as much as they should. They have known for a long time that the products can be addictive. Talking about it as an addiction makes it seem like the kids' fault, when it is a social addiction that has spread widely. A third of young girls, 11 to 15, say they are addicted. Half of teens say it would be hard to give up. Three-quarters of teens feel manipulated.

Surgeon General Murthy helped pass social media warning labels in California and New York. Australia is enacting social media bans for the top 10 platforms, and Denmark has said it will do the same. The conversation was in March of 2026. A couple of weeks later, a Los Angeles jury found Meta and Google liable for harming a young woman's mental health through the design of Instagram and YouTube. In August, Meta reached a multi-billion dollar settlement with dozens of states over allegations that its platforms were harming kids, and agreed to limits on screen time and restrictions on notifications. The company still has not admitted wrongdoing.