Behind the Numbers: Are We Addicted? Breaking Down the Social Media Trials and America’s Media Habits

Podcast: Behind the Numbers: an EMARKETER Podcast
Episode Title: Are We Addicted? Breaking Down the Social Media Trials and America’s Media Habits
Date: March 2, 2026
Host: Marcus
Guests: Ethan Kramer Flood (Principal Forecasting Writer), Oscar Orozco (Industry Analyst)

Episode Overview

This episode explores the controversial topic of social media addiction, the landmark lawsuits currently challenging big tech, and the broader landscape of American media consumption in 2026. With new trials likening social platforms' tactics to those of Big Tobacco, the hosts dissect the implications for the tech industry, government regulation, and the future of how Americans spend their media time. The conversation also widens to reveal fascinating trends about traditional and digital media habits, using exclusive EMARKETER data.

Key Topics & Insights

1. Social Media Addiction Trials: Big Tech Under Fire

• The Lawsuit at a Glance

  • A six-week trial in California puts Meta (Instagram) and YouTube under scrutiny, accused of intentionally designing addictive platforms, especially harmful to youth ([03:00]).
  • Hundreds of cases have consolidated into this bellwether trial, featuring a plaintiff who claims personal injury due to "addictive" features like infinite scroll.
  • Comparable to historic tobacco litigation, this trial could be a turning point for tech regulation.

• Internal Evidence

  • Damning internal emails and presentations are key evidence—e.g., Mark Zuckerberg pushing for a 12% increase in time spent, and YouTube likening its platform to a “slot machine” and “attention casino” ([07:53]).
  • Meta documented goals to attract users as young as 10, despite existing minimum age policies ([12:02]).

Quote:
"If you find yourself writing an email about the ways that you might be creating poison, just keep in mind that a judge is going to see it someday."
— Ethan Kramer Flood ([07:33])

2. The Big Tobacco Parallels and Potential Outcomes

• Oscar’s Take

  • Sees strong parallels between current tech trials and the historic tobacco master settlement (1998), which drastically cut smoking rates and changed public attitudes about tobacco ([04:22]).
  • Expects similar potential for broad restrictions on advertising, design features, and generational shifts in perception.

• Potential Remedies Sought

  • Time restrictions for young users (e.g., locking out apps during school/nighttime).
  • Deactivating addictive features (infinite scroll, beauty filters, aggressive algorithmic recommendations) ([05:46]).
  • Calls for stricter age verifications and possibly raising the minimum age to 16 ([07:11]).

Quote:
“This has huge implications… It changed how these products are marketed. Also, public opinion shift. Maybe it won’t be as tumultuous, but I think it’s very close.”
— Oscar Orozco ([04:22])

3. Industry Response & Legal Strategies

• Big Tech's Legal Defense

  • Arguing addictiveness can't be blamed solely on design—other life factors (e.g., trauma, family issues) contribute to user problems.
  • Legal teams point out that “social media addiction” isn’t even formally classified in the DSM-5 ([12:25]).

• Precedent of Settlements

  • TikTok and Snapchat settled their cases rather than go to trial—signaling concern about the direction of the lawsuit ([09:04]).

• YouTube’s Position

  • YouTube claims it's more comparable to Netflix than to social media; usage is more about video consumption than social networking ([10:00]).

Quote: "These are attention casinos. The house always wins."
— YouTube internal document ([07:53])

4. Media Consumption by the Numbers: How Addicted Are We?

• Social Media Usage in the U.S.
  • Average adult spends ~1 hour, 37 minutes per day on social platforms; nearly another hour on YouTube.
  • Total daily media consumption (across all media) is nearly 13 hours—meaning social media is a sizable but not majority share ([13:55]).
  • For perspective: More time is still spent on TV (both linear and streaming) than on social media.

Quote:
"We horrify the listeners once or twice a year… [with] this God awful figure that's approaching 13 hours."
— Ethan Kramer Flood ([13:55])

• Growth Rates and Plateau

  • Social media time is still rising, but growth is slowing—just 1-2 minutes a year.
  • Many platforms are plateauing or even losing engagement among adults, but still strong in certain demographics (e.g., teens on TikTok and Instagram) ([17:40]).

• International Comparison

  • U.S. engagement with social networks is higher than in markets like the UK, Canada, Japan, South Korea, China, France, Germany ([16:32]).

Quote:
"Social fatigue... is certainly a real thing. Competition is fierce. People are moving away from this."
— Ethan Kramer Flood ([17:59])

5. The Pivot to CTV and the Next Wave of Media Habits

• Growth of Connected TV (CTV)

  • All major platforms are scrambling to bring their content to CTV, where almost all new media growth now happens ([21:57]).
  • Subscription streaming, free ad-supported (FAST) TV, and YouTube drive nearly all net gains in time spent with media.
  • Social platforms like Meta and Reddit looking to expand video and CTV presence.

• Audio: An Underrated Driver

  • Growth is also notable in podcasting, digital audio, and audiobooks.
  • Spotify and Apple Music are blending more video into their offerings and pushing for CTV engagement as well ([23:51]).

Quote:
"Podcast growth is still pretty strong even though top line audio isn't, which almost suggests that podcasts are stealing time from music."
— Ethan Kramer Flood ([25:01])

6. Traditional Media: Still Going Strong

• Traditional TV & Radio Hold On
  • Despite digital dominance, 30% of daily media time is still spent with traditional channels ([26:35]).
  • TV remains the top media channel for time spent, followed by radio—a reminder not to declare traditional media dead just yet.

Quote:
"Traditional TV is still number one media channel in terms of time spent. Radio is in fifth and way ahead of digital gaming or YouTube."
— Marcus ([26:35])

Notable Quotes & Moments (w/Timestamps)

• On evidence-building:

  "If you find yourself writing an email about the ways that you might be creating poison, just keep in mind that a judge is going to see it someday."
  — Ethan Kramer Flood ([07:33])

• On the potential impact:

  "It really did destroy the ... tobacco industry and how they were looked at. I think it's very close to that [moment] for social media."
  — Oscar Orozco ([04:22])

• On media time:

  "We horrify the listeners... with this God awful figure that's approaching 13 hours [a day]."
  — Ethan Kramer Flood ([13:55])

• On internal big tech culture:

  "These are attention casinos. The house always wins."
  — YouTube internal document ([07:53])

• On social media fatigue:

  "Competition is fierce. People are moving away from this. They're spending more time in front of their CTVs... maybe there's social fatigue."
  — Ethan Kramer Flood ([17:59])

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Dunbar Number & Social Networks Context: 00:38 – 02:48
• Introduction to Social Media Addiction Trial: 02:59 – 07:11
• Big Tech’s Legal Position & Evidence: 07:32 – 12:25
• What Is Social Media Addiction? Definitions & DSM-5: 12:25 – 13:55
• Media Usage Numbers: Social, Video, Audio: 13:55 – 21:56
• CTV and Video-First Social Platforms: 21:57 – 24:38
• The Persistence of Traditional Media: 25:36 – 27:05

Final Thoughts

The episode frames the social media addiction lawsuits as a possible inflection point for tech regulation—mirroring tobacco's reckoning. While social media still swallows up huge chunks of U.S. screen time, it's just one piece of an increasingly fragmented and saturated media day. The future will be shaped by new regulation, changes in platform design (maybe even government-mandated), evolving user fatigue, and the relentless migration of all media—social, audio, and video—to the connected TV screen.

For deeper dives, EMARKETER's full report is available for subscribers, with a special look at U.S. time spent with media in 2026 and forthcoming breakdowns of social media and OTT video usage.