According to the New York Times article, "A jury found the companies harmed a young user with design features that were addictive and led to her mental health distress."

Being one of the first generations to grow up with mobile technology and social media prevalent in day-to-day life, this is a landmark ruling for Gen Z. Much of Gen Z is college-aged, and they are watching these laws be formed and developed. Public affairs for secondary education junior Ethan Psycher recognizes the addictive properties of social media.

“I would say that algorithms have definitely gotten better at grabbing my attention in the last few years. Fairly often, I keep scrolling content much longer than I initially intended, because I get “sucked” into scrolling longer," Psycher said. 

Another student, finance junior Rishi Rai, also commented on how social media affected his daily life, and how businesses profit from user attachment to the apps.

“I think algorithms are a lot more influential than people realize. Once you engage with something, even just pausing on it or watching it a bit longer (than other videos), you start getting fed more of the same," Rai said. "It’s easy to see how that can shape your perception over time, especially with emotional content like anger or outrage. I’ve definitely had moments where I’m about to log off and then get pulled into more content because it just keeps lining up with what I was already watching.”

Psychology and human resources and labor relations junior Millicent Zak spoke to body image issues perpetuated or fueled by social media, as well as the addictive tendencies of apps and how they hinder mental well-being.

“I am always on social media the most at night when I’m about to go to bed, and I am often doomscrolling, which keeps me from going to bed, because I just want to keep watching more videos, such as TikTok. I do think it 'sucks me in’ and I lose sleep, since I’m invested in my phone during my free time," Zak said. "I find myself partaking in trends or ideas that I see influencers post about, but it definitely hasn’t taken over my life. My reasoning is that I just want to be able to know what the new trends are, and I think that I do compare myself and my body to influencers and celebrities whenever I'm on social media."

Rai also pointed out specifically how companies get better about engaging users through methods like their addictive features, and the harms of this.

“From a business perspective, I understand why companies design it this way; it drives engagement and keeps people on the platform longer. But ethically, it gets tricky, because it can feel like manipulation. There’s definitely a gray area between personalization and intentionally keeping people hooked and addicted,” Rai said.

Pyscher also weighed in on this, believing businesses involved in social media and algorithms have not only a right, but a duty to disclose their addictive properties.

“I believe that algorithms foster and maintain addiction, so it should be treated like any other addictive product. Businesses should have an obligation to be transparent with their algorithms and the addiction it can cause, along with adjusting addictive algorithm features to be less addictive in general,” Pyscher said.

A California jury found Meta and YouTube negligent, further proving the addictive features hooking its users have validity. The $6 million verdict supports arguments that algorithmic features act not unlike Big Tobacco litigation: "digital casinos.” This trial, led by plaintiff K.G.M., is the first of what could be a potential of numerous lawsuits, made to challenge large, widespread social media companies on child safety.