In this episode of the You Winning Life Podcast, host Jason Wasser and guest Marc Weinstein explore the distinction between being a creator and a consumer on social media, especially TikTok. They discuss how endless scrolling can cause a loss of time perception, while also highlighting the platform’s capacity to foster community, connections, and even relationships for people who were previously isolated. The conversation contrasts TikTok’s interactive dynamics with those of Instagram and reflects on how social media can amplify both positive emotions like gratitude and negative ones such as jealousy and fear. Drawing on insights from Tristan Harris and the Center for Humane Technology, they explain that many platform design choices tap into primal, “lizard‑brain” responses—particularly fear and survival instincts—making the content highly engaging and sometimes addictive. Overall, the dialogue balances appreciation for the tribe‑building potential of digital media with a cautionary view of its psychological manipulation.
Chapters
Well, then the idea of being a creator versus a consumer. So how would you distinguish that? Right. Because you're using it and I'm using it to put it out there as a creator. And I know that like the first few times that I was on TikTok over the last month or so, an hour passed as I'm flipping through it. And like, it was insane where it's kind of like where your brain does shut down way different than maybe watching a movie or TV. But you don't realize, right, you are thumbing through and going through that. And you're seeing— I'm seeing a whole spectrum of stuff. I'm seeing like the really ridiculous stupid things that are there. And then I'm seeing people share parts of their story and their trauma and trying to connect with the community and a tribe, which I think is the beautiful part of the social media. I was discussing this with a friend of mine. He took me 2 years ago to Comic-Con here in South Florida. And I'm not like the world— I'm not— it's incredible to see that culture. But imagine like 20 years ago before social media had anything, a lot of these people were alone and isolated.. And now, like, not only do they have friends, but they're finding, like, relationship partners and stuff that, like, they would have been 56 years old and never have met someone. But through the digital connections, they're now creating a really awesome tribe of people to connect with. So I love that part of what's happening on social media. And I think TikTok, it might be leveraging that a little bit differently than Instagram is, um, because there's a little bit more of an interaction in some way, shape, or form. Finding?
Yeah, I mean, it's— again, it's right, like, it's, it's just an extension of the human condition. So it, it can extend, you know, positivity and gratitude and community building, and it can extend jealousy and envy and, and fear. It's just, it's just, um, it is just an extension of that. I think what we've learned through people like Tristan Harris and the Center for Humane Technology is that the more powerful motivators happen to be the kind of lizard brain type responses, just because those are so deeply ingrained in our programming as humans, because it's, it's survival, right? Like, you— fear is an emotion that kicks in to preserve us. So we're going to be more susceptible to fear. Um, because if you walk into a dark forest and you feel joyful, You die, right? Back in the day, if you feel fearful, at least you have the opportunity to kind of project that there might be some danger and you can protect yourself.
