Why Is Social Media So Enticing?

How many times have you found yourself scrolling through social media only to realize an hour has gone by? How many arguments have you had with your teenager about putting the phone down and getting off social media?

Source: Terimakasih0 at Pixabay

Social media has many benefits—and it also has the risk of becoming problematic. One of the best things we can do as a society is be informed about the nature of social media and make intentional choices about our use.

Let’s consider 10 things that make social media addictive.

1. Endlessness: Unlike a movie, book, or play, social media offers unlimited content with no natural stopping point (Montag, et al., 2019). There is new content every time you pull down on your screen to refresh. Therefore, individuals must engage the reasoning part of their brain (prefrontal cortex) to determine the pros and cons of continuing to use social media or stopping. Of particular importance, the brain does not fully mature until the early 20s, and the prefrontal cortex is the last part to reach maturation.
2. Speed of accessing digital content: As a society, we have always had access to stimulating and entertaining content, but it has never been so easily accessible or rapidly obtained (Swingle, 2016). In fractions of a second (the amount of time it takes to swipe or click), we are introduced to the next post, video, or picture. The rapid delivery of content on social media is stimulating, yet does not allow for natural pauses to reflect, reason, and make intentional choices.
3. Feedback and social rewards: How different would Facebook and Instagram be if there was no option to “like” or “love” a post or picture? The capability of providing feedback (via a like, retweet, share, comment, heart) creates the opportunity to experience social rewards on social media (Alter, 2017; Sherman, et al., 2018). Positive social feedback is rewarding; and, over time, we can start to crave those rewards, posting video after video or picture after picture to accrue the coveted “likes” representing social reinforcement.
4. Variable ratio reinforcement schedules: How is using social media like playing a slot machine? The answer: the unpredictable nature of rewards. Variable ratio reinforcement schedules are situations in which a user knows a reward is coming but does not know when (Skinner, 1969). On social media, users do not know when they will receive a friend request, like, or comment; they continue to go back (and check and check) in anticipation of the reward. It is a very powerful form of reinforcement scheduling and difficult to extinguish.
5. Short, attention-grabbing posts and videos: One reason why individuals of all ages love social media is that the posts are short and easily digestible. Social media doesn’t take a lot of effort. Tweets span from 1 to 280 characters. TikTok videos can be a few seconds long or up to three minutes. Unlike watching a two-hour movie or spending hours reading a book, this short, stimulating content easily grabs our attention.
6. Personalization of content via algorithms: Social media platforms have been transparent about their collection of users’ data (just visit the terms of the site). They collect information about what we click on, how long we view a post, who we message, what groups we join, and even information from other websites that have connections to the social media platform. Once the data is collected, algorithms are employed to customize users’ experiences to match their preferences (Montag, et al., 2019). We are much more drawn to apps in which everything interests us—and the personalization of content, newsfeeds, videos, pictures, stories, reels, and recommendations keeps users engaged for longer durations of time.
7. Emails to encourage the use or return to use: Even if you decide to take a break from social media, you have more hurdles to cross. A period of disuse can trigger emails to the user’s account asking them to return or entice them with content they may find interesting. You may get an email from a social media platform with the subject line, “We miss you!” or “Check out this tweet by (insert influencer or celebrity here).” Quitting social media cold turkey does not go unnoticed.
8. Suggestions for engagement: Another way we are captivated by social media is by subtle prompts from the platform to get us to engage (Montag, et al., 2019). For example, we may receive a notification that it is someone’s birthday and we should send them a message, or we may be presented with a photo gallery of people we may know, prompting us to scroll through the lineup to see if we want to connect. Without knowing it, or making a conscious choice, we are scrolling, messaging, or checking out a new page—all resulting from a subtle nudge, prompt, or suggestion from the social media platform itself.
9. Anticipation, reward, and dopamine: The neurotransmitter dopamine is implicated in desiring, wanting, or anticipating reward (Blum, et al., 2013). When we see a social media notification we get a hit of dopamine in our reward centers announcing, “A reward is coming!” (Schultz, et al., 1997; Sherman, et al., 2016). This activation of our reward circuitry increases our motivation to pursue the reward (Arias-Carrion, et al., 2010)—thus we continue to check social media again and again.
10. Fear of Missing Out (FOMO): Social media is not just a place to post pictures and witty messages—it is also a place where you buy and sell products, invite people to social events, message friends, read the news, create fundraisers, watch live-streamed events, and check the weather. If social media use begins to be problematic, it is very hard to abandon the apps entirely without missing out on social activities, live events, and messages from friends. Social media has diversified its uses, thus there is a very real fear of missing out if we are not connected to social media or available to access it in a moment’s notice (Przybylski, et al., 2013).

Social media is a part of our lives. It comes with benefits and negative consequences. As consumers, we need to be informed about the addictive features of social media and make choices to help us increase our control of the product, rather than the product controlling us.