Phones are like Cars; Social Media is like Alcohol

How we can learn from other inventions with negative side-effects

In the big debate raging about smart phones and social media things can sometimes become a bit too one-sided. Some deny there's a problem; others talk about bans. But by thinking about them like cars and alcohol we can have a more productive conversation: they are useful, fun, but not without downsides.

Smartphones are like Cars

Like cars, smartphones have transformed our lives. They are incredibly useful. Which of us would be without them? Going back to a pre-smartphone society is unlikely to be possible, or even desirable.

Cars did the same. Outside of big cities with extensive public transport networks, cars open up personal liberty to a tremendous extent. They bring places, people and opportunities within reach. The country without cars would be one that is much larger and less connected.

But cars did and do a lot of harm, too! Road accidents kill a lot of people; congestion and noise is unpleasant, fumes harm air quality and CO2 contributes to global warming.

Over time, we've done a lot to make our first headlong rush into cars less harmful. We've banned lead in petrol - something that seemed a great idea at the time, but really wasn't. We've made cars much safer, with seat belts, crumple zones, automatic breaking and much more (and we’ve legislated to make some of these things mandatory). We've regulated emissions, systematically reducing the impact on air quality. And now we're going electric, to stop the contribution to climate change.

Some people have always fantasised about getting rid of cars. There have always been idealists thinking that if just made public transport good enough (and cheap enough), just put in enough cycle lanes, we could get rid of cars.

But it's always been just that, a fantasy. They're too useful - and not just for families, for disabled people and others, but for everyone. The car has maintained its dominance throughout massive spikes in petrol prices and multiple technological revolutions. The people who wanted to get rid of cars failed.

But the people who wanted to improve cars, to reduce and mitigate their negative side effects, have succeeded. The improvements we've made over the decades are very real and very necessary. Cars are now much safer, much cleaner, much less polluting. They’re going to become even less polluting still.

Furthermore, even though the carless society is an undesirable myth, we have recognised it's good to have alternatives. Good public transport and cycle lanes are nice - and reduce congestion. We even want a few car free spaces, like pedestrian city centres.

As cars, so phones. We don’t want to - and won’t - get rid of our phones. But we should recognise their negative side-effects and think about how to reduce or mitigate them. This might be by design features, it might be by regulation, it might be by cultural change. But if we look at how much better we’ve made cars, we should be ambitious for similar harm-reduction in phones.

Social media is like alcohol

If smartphones are like cars, social media is like alcohol. A lot less useful, a lot more harmful - but still fun.

I - like most of us - enjoy the odd drink. Alcohol has lots of good properties: it tastes nice, there is a strong and beneficial social component to much drinking and it can act as a social lubricant. Other than a few kill-joys, most of us wouldn’t want to live in a world without alcohol. But equally, most of us are conscious that alcohol is also a dangerous drug that can destroy lives.

So what does this mean when thinking of social media? Well, it doesn't mean ban it completely, any more than it means banning alcohol. But it definitely means don't give it to primary school kids. It means we don’t want kids on social media in schools.¹ And we should have serious limits on anyone under 18 accessing it.

In my own parenting I do very much think of it like this. We don’t let our children use social media now. But when they get to their mid- or late- teens we'll want to start teaching them - and ideally modelling - how to use it responsibly. Not an outright ban. But not unlimited access, either. And certainly not access when young².

I’ve very deliberately chosen alcohol here as the analogy, not smoking or cocaine. I’ve never smoked or taken drugs; I hope my kids don’t either. But I imagine they will drink when they’re older, and gain enjoyment from it - and that’s fine and good. So it is about protecting from harm when young, and then teaching and modelling responsible use in their late teens.

For adults, too, we ought to recognise much more explicitly that use of social media - and in particular over use - can be harmful. That used responsibly it can be fun, but that one should always be aware of the harm - and that that harm may take a number of different forms.

What might, as a society, recognising this more explicitly look like?

At the minimum, it could mean greater awareness. It could mean public health campaigns - as we've done with alcohol. Or better teaching in schools. It might mean limiting access for adults. Time controls set as default and need to be removed manually. It may mean banning certain features (algorithmic feeds? We'd need evidence as to what would be harmful). It might mean banning certain forms of social media, or preventing platforms being owned by nations hostile to us³.

As with alcohol, ideally the industry, civil society and government would work together. It's about establishing norms as much or more than creating laws (though some laws may be necessary. But the sooner we recognise it has downsides, and act to mitigate them - without disregarding the positives - the better.

I don’t want to overdo these analogies. I’m not suggesting there is a one-to-one mapping between cars and smartphones or alcohol and social media, or that the strategies we’ve used to mitigate the harm of the former will have a direct correspondence in strategies we need to apply to the latter.

What I am saying is that this is a helpful lens to think about it. Neither laissez-faire nor moral panic. A recognition of their use, or their entertainment value - but a clear-sighted recognition of the downsides, with deliberate, holistic and effective methods to reduce their harm.

And finally…Visions in Exile coming this week

As a reminder, my next novel Visions in Exile is coming out later this week, continuing the epic tale of Thomas and Rianda in an 18th century fantasy world menaced by dark forces.

For those who’ve not yet read the first in the series, a newly edited edition of the first volume in the series, Imperial Visions is available for purchase on Amazon for the princely sum of £1.99 (eBook) or £8.99 (paperback).

• Buy Kindle edition

• Buy Paperback

Happy reading!

1. Every child deserves a phone-free school.

2. If you are the sort of person who likes to take analogies to their limit, you could compare letting an 8 year old have a sip of an adult’s alcohol to showing an 8 year old a specific thing on your social media.

3. This last one really is a no-brainer.