Blog Post #5: The Psychology Behind Social Media

Have you ever scrolled on your phone for what feels like 15 minutes but actually ends up being hours? This phenomenon is something that almost everyone has experienced now in the modern day, where social media is so prevalent in our daily lives. But what makes phones so addicting? One of the main reasons why social media is so addictive is because it constantly rewards our brain every time a notification comes in. Moreover, the convenient swipe method also triggers dopamine in our brains because if we don’t like the content we are seeing, we can easily skip the video and keep scrolling. There is no end. 

According to a study conducted by Stanford University’s Institute for Human-Centered AI (HAI), psychiatrists have mentioned how the variability of rewards is what keeps us so addicted. “It’s the intermittent absence of the like that keeps us engaged,” says Sara Johansen, who has worked with platforms like TikTok and Pinterest to design more engaging user experiences. 

TikTok is ranked the most downloaded app in recent years, and is a widely successful company that executes its algorithm a little differently compared to other platforms. TikTok prioritizes user interactions and preferences specific to users, rather than focusing on likes and views. TikTok’s main goal is to have users spend as much time on their app as possible, because that means they can come across more ads. The more ads seen, the more revenue. This process connects to what is called “choice architecture”, where the TikTok algorithm structures the choices for its users. Whenever we like a video, or watch it a few more times, or look at certain profiles, TikTok responds to these behaviors and takes into account everyone’s individual feed. We think we are choosing what to watch, but TikTok is actually choosing it for us.

This is the exact reason why TikTok is so addicting and scrolling feels like minutes when it’s actually hours. The reason why people like TikTok is because of how personalized it feels and how catered its algorithm is to our personal tastes, which is exactly how the developers make money, too.

So, the next time you feel the urge to open TikTok and start scrolling on your phone, think about the way TikTok is trying to make you spend more time on the app, and is intentionally making choices for you to make you stay on the app longer.