Screen time is what’s known in economic terms as an inferior good: the poorer you are, the more of it you consume. As Jaron Lanier, the internet pioneer and futurist, put it in an interview, “A lot of the stuff that people experience when they’re using social media is genuine and positive…[But] there’s this other thing going on, this behind-the-scenes engine that’s getting all your data, constantly surveilling you, and then tweaking what you experience.”
