Systemic exploitation: How Big Tech leverages developmental neuroscience to monetise adolescent attention
Original framing: “Neuroscience explains why teens are so vulnerable to Big Tech social media platforms” — The Conversation - Global
The article effectively utilises neuroscience to explain adolescent brain development and susceptibility to digital platforms, though it could integrate more interdisciplinary scientific evidence, such as psychology and data science, to strengthen its analysis.
This article reveals how Big Tech exploits adolescent neurodevelopmental patterns through engineered design, reframing teen vulnerability as a predictable outcome of corporate strategy rather than a biological inevitability.
By integrating scientific evidence with systemic critique, it exposes the structural power imbalances that enable this exploitation. A fuller analysis would incorporate Indigenous and cross-cultural perspectives, as well as future modeling to anticipate long-term consequences. The trickster lens here disrupts the dominant narrative, revealing the absurdity of blaming biology for corporate design choices. Systemic solutions must include regulatory reform, participatory design, and public education to shift power back to youth and communities.