Soft power, économie de l'attention : comment les réseaux sociaux rendent sots | Marion Maréchal

Marion Maréchal opens by discussing an article from Le Figaro highlighting the stark difference in TikTok content between China and the rest of the world. In China, content for users under 14 is limited to 40 minutes daily and is exclusively educational, scientific, or patriotic. This contrasts sharply with the lighter, often less educational content distributed in other countries, including France. She points out a study showing Chinese youth aspire to be astronauts, while American youth aspire to be influencers, suggesting a 'debilitating' effect of social media in the West.

Maréchal explains that social media platforms, particularly those from Silicon Valley, employ 'captology' – a field focused on capturing and maximizing user attention. This attention, or 'brain time', is then monetized through advertising. These platforms are designed using neuroscience knowledge to make them highly addictive, especially for young people whose brains are still developing and are more vulnerable to such solicitations. Even 30 minutes of screen time can have negative consequences on mental health.

Referencing the book 'The Red Fish Civilization', Maréchal notes that the average attention span of millennials, those born around 2000, is comparable to that of a goldfish (8 seconds). Such a diminished attention span makes concentration, memorization, learning, and critical thinking difficult. She argues that this poses a threat to democratic functioning, as citizens with such short attention spans may struggle to engage meaningfully with complex information. The addictive nature of scrolling exacerbates these issues, impacting self-esteem and cognitive abilities.

Maréchal warns of even more severe consequences for very young children, particularly those under three years old, who are highly exposed to screens. She states that some hospitals have even had to create specialized services for children developing certain forms of autism linked to screen exposure. She expresses surprise that while data privacy is protected in France and Europe, mental health and the well-being of young people from the detrimental effects of social media receive insufficient attention.

Maréchal recommends another book, 'La fabrique du crétin digital' (The Digital Moron Factory), to further explore these issues. She hopes that such information will encourage a more reasoned approach to social media use, which can be harmful to both individual brains and society. She concludes by pointing out that China wisely uses TikTok as a tool of soft power in the West, leveraging these platforms to their advantage while protecting its own youth.