Young adults (and plenty of not-so-young adults) are addicted to the Internet. No surprise there. It’s easy for parents and teachers, politicians and pundits to brush off Internet addiction as a harmless, inevitable consequence of the digital age, a small price to pay for carrying the information super-highway around in our pockets. But what if I told you that young adults (and plenty of not-so-young adults) are stuck in a feedback loop of digital sexual stimulation, addicted not just to the Internet but to pornography and social media? And what if I told you that the consequences of these addictions are quite dire — ranging from depression, anxiety and ADHD to sexual dysfunction and violence? And what if I also told you that, as far as social media companies and pornography producers and anyone who advertises on the Internet is concerned, the feedback loop is exactly where we belong? I am a member of a generation with a dubious distinction — we have only known a wired world. Facebook was born before I was ten years old. Forget dirty magazines squashed under mattresses, Internet pornography — endless free sex, performed live for you in the comfort of your home, 24 hours a day — was available as soon as you had access to an Internet-enabled device, and anyone who has walked into a restaurant or a park lately knows that these days that milestone just about coincides with first steps and probably precedes first words in many cases. Internet pornography was like mother’s milk to some people I interivewed. I do not jest. As a student at the University of Pennsylvania and a young employee in the tech world, I lived in the feedback loop. My personality was fragile, my attention span zero. I wasn’t particularly curious about anything other than porn and video games, and I felt disintegrated by the tidal waves of data, most of it pornographic. I didn’t realize I was in hell. I lived with the consequences of being inside a Mobius strip that I did not understand because I could not see it. How can you see those consequences when everyone you know is stuck in the same loop with you? You can’t see the matrix when you’re inside the matrix. This book pulls readers out of the matrix. Part manifesto, part autobiography, part self- help roadmap, is a concise, essential guide to porn and social media addiction written for young adults and anyone else suffering at the hands of the Internet. Breaking the Feedback Loop Here’s the key distinction: this book is written by someone who has gone through the trials and tribulations that plague so many young people. Through extensive research, including interviews with academics and experts, and personal experimentation, I broke free from the feedback loop. And, now that I’m outside of the digital echo chamber — with the artificial moans of corporate pornography still rattling around like background radiation from the Big Bang — I can see how terrifying the trends are in porn and social media consumption. The Internet is an immense maze. And most of us are lost in it. I wrote this book to give people a torch to light their way out. Get your copy at Barnes and Noble
