Panorama: Season 2018, Episode 21

2018 - 21: Smartphones: The Dark Side

People are all increasingly glued to their smart phones and consumed by social media, but why? Panorama reporter Hilary Andersson tracks down tech insiders who reveal how social-media companies have deliberately developed habit-forming technology to get people hooked. A former Facebook manager tells the programme: 'Their goal is to addict you and then sell your time' and the creator of the 'like' button warns of the dangers of social-media addiction. Panorama investigates the science behind the lure of technology, and shows how behavioural science has been used to keep people endlessly checking their phones.