The crisis isn't just mental health - it’s a business model. Social media and dating apps are engineered to monetize isolation and disposability, creating generational shifts in behavior that harm both sexes differently.
On Huberman Lab, Scott Galloway argues Big Tech acts as the "Antichrist of progress" for young men, providing a frictionless existence that prevents the development of social skills. He says platforms like TikTok and YouTube capture every spare second, creating a feedback loop of porn, gambling, and algorithmic sedation that yields a cohort of asocial, asexual males. The result: only one in three men under 30 are in a relationship, compared to two in three women.
"Big Tech acts as the 'Antichrist of progress' for young men by providing a frictionless existence. Platforms like TikTok and YouTube are designed to capture every spare second, preventing men from developing the social skills required for real-world relationships."
- Scott Galloway, Huberman Lab
For young women, the damage manifests as a paralyzing self-optimization. On Modern Wisdom, Freya India argues girls now view themselves as products rather than people, a mentality cultivated by marketing themselves on Instagram since age ten. This makes the vulnerability and physical changes of motherhood look like a brand failure, not a human experience. India notes this isn't about lacking ambition, but an extreme risk aversion where staying "pristine for the market" trumps human connection.
The platforms themselves are designed to accelerate this disconnect. Mercedes Coffman, also on Modern Wisdom, explains that dating apps reward novelty and dopamine spikes, inherently favoring the emotionally unavailable. This forces available people to lower their standards until they burn out and leave the pool, creating a systemic "avoidant culture" where disposability is the norm.
"Young women view their lives as brands to be optimized, making motherhood look like a career-killing risk."
- Freya India, Modern Wisdom
The mental health industry has filled the void left by eroding community anchors, but India criticizes it for pathologizing normal distress. Liberal teen girls use social media for over five hours a day at a rate of about 31%, significantly higher than other groups, and algorithms fossilize teenage struggles into permanent identities. Meanwhile, a study of 15 years of Reddit relationship advice shows 'end relationship' comments rose from 30% to 50%, while suggestions to 'communicate' and 'compromise' dropped.
Snap CEO Evan Spiegel, on Lenny's Podcast, acknowledges software is not a moat and is easily cloned, pushing his company toward AR glasses to own a hardware platform. His insight underlines the race: tech giants are building deeper ecosystems to capture attention, with little incentive to design for human flourishing. The outcome is a generation taught to trade hidden metrics like mental peace for observable ones like likes and status, leaving both sexes lonelier and less skilled at the art of connection.
