The Jevons Paradox and its reflections in media, communication, and technology

The Jevons Paradox is a concept introduced in 1865 by the British economist William Stanley Jevons. In his book, The Coal Question, Jevons argued that if coal were used more efficiently, total coal consumption would increase rather than decrease. The reason for this is that when new technologies enable a resource to be used more efficiently, the cost of using that resource drops, and consequently, its usage increases. As a result, total consumption does not decrease; on the contrary, it rises. It is possible to observe this paradox not only in energy consumption but also in other fields. For example, it emerges similarly in the use of media, communication, and technology. Although new technologies and communication methods promise more efficient use, they often result in increased consumption rather than savings.

The invention of the printing press and advancements in printing technologies made the production of newspapers, magazines, and books more economical. Logically, one would expect paper consumption to decrease because more efficient printing techniques allow the same amount of information to be conveyed using less paper. However, the exact opposite occurred: as books, newspapers, and brochures could be produced more cheaply, the demand for printed materials increased, and total paper usage rose rapidly. A similar situation occurred in the 20th century with the proliferation of photocopiers in offices. This technology, which made duplicating documents easier and cheaper, dramatically increased paper consumption instead of reducing it. In the 21st century, a similar trend has been observed with the spread of digitalization: despite the rhetoric of the “paperless office,” paper usage and printer consumption have not decreased; in many cases, they have actually increased.

The expansion of the internet and innovations in data storage and compression technologies have made access to information more efficient and faster. However, this efficiency has not led to a reduction in total data usage. On the contrary, with the increased use of the internet, total data consumption has risen rapidly. For example, in the late 1990s, internet access was limited and slow, so users had to be careful with their bandwidth. For instance, downloading even a very low-resolution photo from the internet would take minutes. Later, thanks to advancements in compression technologies and fiber-optic networks, the same amount of information could be transferred at lower data costs. However, this did not lead to a decrease in internet usage; instead, video streaming, high-resolution content, and large file downloads became widespread. Today, platforms like Netflix, TikTok, and YouTube continuously increase annual total data consumption despite advancements in data efficiency. Applications like WeTransfer offer the ability to send files up to 2GB in size over the internet for free.

As we know, smartphones and mobile platforms are among the technologies developed to provide faster access to information. One would expect screen time to decrease thanks to more efficient screens, more powerful batteries, and optimized applications. However, the exact opposite happened: as devices became more efficient, people began spending more time on their phones. While mobile phones were used only for calls and text messages in the early 2000s, today they are used for many functions such as social media, news, entertainment, and shopping. As a result, screen time has increased rather than decreased. Research conducted in the 2010s showed that the daily screen time of smartphone users was on average 1-2 hours, while today this duration has risen to 6-8 hours for many users.

We can speak of a similar situation for social media. The emergence of social media aimed to make news consumption more efficient and easier. Theoretically, it would be possible for readers to get summarized news within minutes and avoid unnecessary information overload. However, this efficiency did not lead to a decrease in news consumption; on the contrary, it caused more news consumption. Social media platforms like Twitter (X), Facebook, and TikTok enabled news to spread faster and caused users to consume more content. While people used to read only daily newspapers, today they follow constantly updated news feeds. While social media accelerates news consumption, it also increases the amount of news people consume. Nazmi Ekin Vural, in the doctoral thesis I supervised, researched this topic and determined that today, when readers look at the pages of a typical internet newspaper, they are instantly confronted with approximately 450 different news items (including advertorials).

It is also possible to observe the effects of the Jevons Paradox in the field of artificial intelligence, one of the most popular topics of today. Artificial intelligence is a technology used to make content production processes more efficient. AI software accelerates processes such as news writing, visual design, and even video production. However, these innovations have caused the total amount of content produced to increase exponentially rather than reducing the time spent on content production. For example, while it used to take hours to write an article, today AI-supported tools can generate a full article in a few minutes. However, this has not led content creators to work less, but rather to produce more content. Similarly, images and videos produced by artificial intelligence have accelerated media production, but have increased content consumption significantly rather than reducing it.

These examples show that even if we do not notice it much, as technologies become more efficient, increased consumption emerges instead of the expected savings. Although digitalization has made access to information easier, general consumption continues to increase constantly. It would not be wrong to expect artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and new media technologies to deepen this paradox even further in the coming years. Whether increased efficiency will truly lead to resource savings or just to the use of more resources will be shaped in line with the new dynamics between technology and society.

Avoiding the Jevons Paradox is possible not only through technological efficiency but by changing consumption habits and economic incentives. It is very important to be aware of this: even if artificial intelligence accelerates content production, this usually leads not to less production, but rather to the production of more content. To prevent this, solutions such as placing quotas on content production, encouraging quality-oriented production, or directing the time saved to other areas can be considered. If algorithms prioritize quality, consumers could be more selective and content production would not increase limitlessly. However, since today's economic models are generally built on interaction and clicks, production growth is encouraged. For example, internet news sites have turned to clickbait journalism to show more advertisements. That is why we see such headlines very often: “When is the expected snowfall in Istanbul?” or “Where and at what time is the FB-GS match played?”. You have also experienced situations where you click on these headlines and scroll to the end of the news page, yet you cannot find the answer you are looking for. But in the meantime, you have seen plenty of advertisements.

Alternatively, limiting content consumption through pricing, subscriptions, or curation models could reduce unnecessary production. However, historical examples show that when technological efficiency increases, society generally uses it for more consumption. The speed offered by artificial intelligence causes an explosion of content, not less production. Therefore, breaking the Jevons Paradox should be seen as a matter requiring economic and cultural change rather than just a technical one. In the long run, whether the increase in efficiency will truly lead to savings will depend on the relationship society establishes with technology.