jaron lanier is author of several books including "you are not a gadget." his latest has the straightforward article "ten arguments for deleting your social media account right now." he joins me in london. jaron, lani jaron lanier, thank you for joining me. >> thank you so much for having me. >> how is this going for you so far? you've deleted your accounts, right? >> absolutely. >> and? >> i haven't had accounts for a long time. i have a successful career as a writer and public figure. i think it's a con job. if you give up the stuff you still have friends and your career. >> that's an important message, isn't it? especially for young people who are programmed to believe that instagram and likes on facebook is what life is about but it's not. >> a vast number of people are genuinely addicted by design and there's nowhere else to go if you want to enjoy the genuine benefits of something like facebook so most people will not or cannot quit and i understand that. yet it's still important to bring up the idea to ask people to quit because it's an opportunity fo