Social Media: Addiction, Behavior, and Psychology
Authors: Katherine Liu, Michelle Sy
The rise of social media has surrounded, shaped, and deeply influenced the lives of young adults and children today. It’s considered “normal” now for kids in as young as elementary school to have already started a social presence.
No one is unaware of the consequences of social media anymore. Poor mental health, increased isolation, and hyper-fixation on one’s social status have all been linked to social media usage. However, it may not be apparent how exactly companies like Facebook, Instagram and TikTok tap into addiction, turning an innocent phone check into an endless scroll or problematic habit. According to the Fogg Behavior model, there are three steps that prompt behavioral manipulation. And social media companies have figured out the right method to a T.
- A feeling/motivation for opening an app.
Some studies have reported that a huge motivation for being active on social media is FOMO: Fear of Missing Out. Now, more than ever, impressionable users are aware of how online activity is tied with social status. There’s a reason why there’s such an exact science to the best time of day to post something and what kind of post it should be. Other psychological reasons might be seeking validation and support online — a void that social media perfectly fills.
2. An action that leads into a behavioral loop.
This could be simply clicking onto the app, liking posts, or retweeting things. As long as there is something for the user to do, they can be easily drawn into a loop.
3. A trigger.
Arguably the most important step, a trigger such as a vibrating phone from a notification is what ultimately reminds users that they haven’t finished browsing on social media. This conditioning is the reason why social media addiction manifests and becomes a problem.
Apps like TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook are also catered towards our natural tendencies. Here are a few methods they use to get you hooked, way more than you realize:
- Push Notifications
When Instagram sends constant reminders that another user starts a live video, or if someone posted for the “first time in a while,” it may gauge user attention to simply open the app. With this initial hook, they can end up spending hours on the app.
2. Infinite Scrolling / AutoPlay vs. Pagination
There are two main User Experiences when it comes to such websites and platforms: infinite scrolling and pagination. Infinite scrolling is a UX with no real built-in endpoint: the page will continuously refresh the more you scroll down. Tiktok, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest are prominent examples of apps with this kind of feature. Without a definitive “finish line,” it is much harder for a user to understand how far they’ve been scrolling, or how much time they’ve spent on the app. AutoPlay is similar to infinite scrolling — this feature is popular on YouTube and Netflix. By giving a very short window to exit the site, AutoPlay takes a way a user’s sense of control: increasing the chances of a binge-watch or movie spiral.
Pagination divides the contents of a platform into pages (hence, the name). Seeing a row of numbers, like on Google Search, allows for a much more tangible idea of how many sites a user has accessed.
3. Colors
With so much of our social interaction on our phones, apps are often competing for “attention” from the users’ eyes. Psychologically, this is called visual saliency: our eyes gravitate towards colors and images that are more visually salient than others. The bright red notification bubbles stimulate the brain. Bright logos are also designed to attract more attention. And, more attention = more clicks = more time spent on the app.
The reason for this manipulation is simple: money. The more users on an app, the more profit the company is making. Since ethical app development focuses primarily on the user, companies that only prioritize monetary gains will not have the user’s best interests at heart. Despite this, some changes are being made. For example, apps now have a time limit, and Instagram tells users when they have run out of new posts on their feed. Outcry about social media’s harmful impacts has not gone unseen, and many companies have been scrambling to repair their reputation (see: Facebook).
Social media is not inherently always bad, as it simply depends on the manner in which people use them; companies may even double-down on their tactics if faced with enough backlash. Any time spent on these apps is precious not just to the user but to the company collecting data and updating its algorithm. It is important to identify that social media is, unfortunately, not your friend.
Ironically, this was written on Medium and will be shared on social media.
Sources
- Instagram and Facebook are intentionally conditioning you to treat your phone like a drug
- A group of former Facebook and Apple employees are teaming up to warn kids about tech addiction
- The Psychology of Social Media
- Social media’s growing impact on our lives
- It’s not you. Phones are designed to be addicting.
