By Kayla DeKraker
Do you think we should limit our screen time? One social media CEO thinks so. Pavel Durov, CEO of the app Telegram, shared a personal standard he holds when it comes to time spent online.
“My philosophy here is pretty simple,” Durov, who helped co-create the app, explained. “I want to define what is important in my life. I don’t want other people or companies, all kinds of organizations, telling me what is important today and what I should be thinking about.”
He does understand the irony of his view.
“I know it’s kind of counterintuitive because I founded one of the largest social networks in the world, after which I founded the second-largest messaging app in the world,” he said.
Related: What You Need to Know About ‘Dark Web’ Site Telegram
Earlier this year, Durov took to Instagram to express concern over how much time people spend on social media.
“Some people are afraid that AI will enslave humanity. But in a way, it already did – through content recommendation algorithms,” he said in the caption. “How many hours a day do you spend on your devices?”
More recently in a post to X, Durov shared his deep concern for the future of social media.
“I’m turning 41, but I don’t feel like celebrating,” he began the post. “Our generation is running out of time to save the free Internet built for us by our fathers. What was once the promise of the free exchange of information is being turned into the ultimate tool of control.”
He added, “Germany is persecuting anyone who dares to criticize officials on the Internet. The UK is imprisoning thousands for their tweets. France is criminally investigating tech leaders who defend freedom and privacy. A dark, dystopian world is approaching fast — while we’re asleep. Our generation risks going down in history as the last one that had freedoms — and allowed them to be taken away.”
If the CEO of a social media app is concerned, we all should be. The studies coming out about the negative effects of social media on both society and on mental health should cause us all pause.
“…the social media algorithms are built to promote whatever you seem interested in,” explained Dr. Linda Mayes, chair of the Yale Child Study Center. “If a teen searches for any kind of mental health condition, such as depression or suicide, it’s going to feed them information about those things, so soon they may begin to think that everyone around them is depressed or thinking about suicide, which is not necessarily good for mental health.”
As social media continues to develop and change, we need to be cautious of its many dangers and growing control.
Read Next: Elon Musk Announces Plans to Combat ‘Woke’ Artificial Intelligence
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