Proceedings of the International scientific and practical conference ―British Ukrainian Academic Congress‖ (March 20-22, 2026) / Publisher website: www.naukainfo.com. - Liverpool, United Kingdom, 2026. - 183 p.

74 this economic logic, the socialization of youth is no longer a localized cultural process but a mechanism for extracting behavioral surplus. Algorithmic platforms are meticulously designed to maximize user engagement, transforming the natural human desire for connection into monetizable data. Consequently, the virtual introjects implanted in young minds are not accidental byproducts; they are intentional architectural features designed to keep users in a continuous loop of consumption and interaction. This economic shift is accompanied by a profound ontological crisis, articulated by philosopher Byung-Chul Han (2022) in his critique of "non-things." Han argues that humanity is transitioning from an environment stabilized by tangible "things" – which provide continuity, physical resistance, and historical grounding – to an environment flooded with "information" and "non-things." In the virtual metaverse, everything is hyper-operable, instantaneous, and frictionless. This loss of ontological gravity severely impacts youth socialization. When the physical world of "things" is replaced by the fleeting, highly stimulating world of digital information, young people lose their existential anchor. They become unmoored, continuously drifting through digital feeds without experiencing the stabilizing friction of physical reality. This theoretical framework explains why digital escapism is so pervasive: algorithms offer a frictionless existence that actively cannibalizes the real world. As a result of this emotional neglect, children form compensatory attachments to social networks, driven by the "Fear of Missing Out" (FoMO), basic anxiety, and general life dissatisfaction. The digital environment, utilizing dopamine-driven feedback loops, easily outcompetes reality. The continuous exposure to virtual introjects – external digital patterns and values internalized as one's own – rewires the cognitive priorities of the youth. They transition into a state of "mind-wandering," where executive cognitive functions are hijacked by external algorithmic stimuli. In this state, authentic social regulators fail, and the individual becomes highly susceptible to algorithmic manipulation, marking the beginning of cyber-addiction. The Limitations of Conventional Media Literacy and European Frameworks . Current institutional responses to digital threats heavily rely on promoting media literacy, which is often narrowly defined as the ability to verify information and