53% of Young People Trapped in Scrolling

Addiction isn't just a problem of technological design; it's also the lack of purpose in its use.

The recent ruling in the United States against Meta and YouTube marks a turning point: for the first time, the courts have recognized something that millions of users already suspected. Digital platforms don't just mediate information; they are designed to capture attention and generate addictive behaviors comparable to those of tobacco.

But reducing the problem to the platforms would be a mistake. The underlying discussion isn't solely technological or regulatory. It is, above all, human.

This is where the Digital Appropriation study presents key evidence: the impact of technology is not determined by its availability, but by how people use it. In other words, by their purposes.

The data is compelling. Among young people aged 12 to 17, 53% focus their relationship with technology on entertainment and communication: social media, video, and instant interaction. Fourteen percent remain non-users. Only 31% incorporate purposes related to education and participation, and a mere 2% have achieved digital citizenship.

This digital citizenship marks a turning point: when technology ceases to be a commodity and becomes a capability. It is the moment when a person can say: “On the internet, I can do everything because what I don't know, I can learn.” It is the transition from user to agent.

In the overall population, the picture improves, but not enough: 13% non-users, 37% use it for communication and entertainment, 32% for education and participation, and 18% for digital citizenship.

Why are we stuck with the most basic uses? Part of the answer lies in the devices. Nearly 90% of people access the internet via smartphone, while smart TVs are approaching 50% in households. Both are optimized for content consumption. In contrast, laptop use has barely exceeded 30% for years, and desktop use continues to decline. Devices that enable creation and production have lost ground to those that encourage consumption.

This is no small detail. It's a structural constraint.

Because if the environment favors entertainment, building productive uses falls almost exclusively on the individual. And therein lies the true challenge.

Addiction isn't just a problem of technological design; it's also the absence of purpose in its use.

The endless scroll isn't an accident: it's an architecture designed to keep us from leaving. In that arena—social media—we all slip up. The difference isn't who enters, but who manages to leave with something valuable. And that "something" has a name: purpose.

Purpose transforms technology into a tool. It organizes time, defines intention, and allows us to resist the constant capture of our attention. Without purpose, technology uses us. With purpose, we use it.

It would be easy—and convenient—to attribute all the responsibility to the platforms.

But that would also be a mistake.

Here, there is a shared responsibility. Public policy must protect and regulate. The education system must cultivate skills and interests. The home defines habits and boundaries. And society, as a whole, validates the uses of technology.

This isn't about demonizing technology. Nor is it about absolving it.

It's about understanding that we are facing a system where platforms and people, algorithms and intentions, meet. And it is in this encounter that it is defined whether technology generates value or dependence.

The real challenge is not disconnecting, but learning to connect better. And that—inevitably—is everyone's responsibility.

Carlos Esteban Lemoine

Leader of the Digital Appropriation and Transformation Studies

Article taken from ElTiempo.com https://www.eltiempo.com/opinion/columnistas/el-53-de-los-jovenes-atrapados-en-el-scroll-3550669