Psychology of Social Media Addiction
We spend more time than we want to on social media (SM) sites and apps like Facebook, Instagram, Tik-Tok, Whatsapp, WeChat, Twitter, Youtube, Snapchat etc, and they are hindering our productivity. Once we post, comment or message, we tend to check for replies and likes multiple times a day. We unlock our phone, open our favourite social media apps, scroll, hit like, comment, pull down to refresh then scroll again and 20 minutes just disappear. It seems impossible for anyone using SM regularly to stay without it even for a week. Social Media (SM) also increases insecurities and depression. Cosmetic procedures like plastic surgeries are becoming popular to look like how influencers look in Snapchat/Instagram filters and there is even a medical term for it-Snapchat Dysmorphia. The rate of self-harm cases and suicide cases have increased in teenagers after the rise of social media platforms. It is fascinating to know how human psychology is exploited to keep your attention to SM as much as possible.
We were evolved to get social validation ie. approval of our social group because it was important for survival. Multiple Likes and good comments from more than a hundred people is a heightened version of whatever social validation we could get from a tribe. When you see people "reply" to or "like" what you post, it validates you and makes you feel good. When you see that new notification alert, your brain secretes a neurotransmitter called dopamine. Dopamine gives you a sense of pleasure. After a few times it happens, the brain craves more to attain the same level of pleasure. We get rewarded in the form of a number of likes and good comments for a "perceived sense of perfection". Others post the best photos of themselves doing amazing things which we obviously compare with our day to day life. So we want to and feel pressure to look perfect and post doing something amazing. It makes us anxious, depressed and uncomfortable taking risks.
Among a lot of things that add up to making social media addictive, one major thing which makes it irresistible is Operant Conditioning. Operant Conditioning is also used for dog training. A quick reward (Reinforcement) on performing an action (Response) increases our chances of performing that action again in anticipation of the reward. A dog usually gets a pat on the back or food after catching a ball and returning it. Thus if a behaviour is rewarded/reinforced enough times, the behaviour becomes a habit. We repeat it without thinking. When a response is reinforced after an unpredictable number of responses, it is called variable reinforcement (VR).
Variable reinforcement (VR) is more addictive than fixed reinforcement (FR). That's why it is often used in gambling. It is also more difficult to remove habits built by variable reinforcement.
We log in to social media and check for things we are interested in: post on social media, update status, comment, chat or react to other's posts, that is our Response. We anticipate rewards in the forms of multiple likes, positive comments, reactions to our posts, funny memes or reels, connecting with someone by chatting and finding interesting things about the people we interact with on social media. Basically social validation. The reward that we get is not always on time, say 6 pm every day when we are free. The app gives you a notification sound and vibration as soon as something related to you happens (which is random), then you check the notification. Sometimes it is a very interesting post or comment that you really like and can't wait to share with someone. Sometimes it is an unnecessary notification that you can ignore. Hence the reward timing and the reward itself is not fixed. This variable reinforcement makes you open the app and check, again and again. If you are one who cares about what people think about you, you feel like you have to check it. Thus you are more likely to get addicted.
You pull down in SM app (i.e. your response) for refresh and sometimes you find new posts that might be interesting to you (reinforcement). But you don't know when you are going to get it and if you are going to get it. That is again variable reinforcement. Just like a slot machine. You pull that slot machine in your phone. Pull down on the screen -> wait -> sometimes you get a new post sometimes you do not. Infinite scroll is again an example of variable reinforcement. You scroll down and check if there is something interesting. Sometimes you find very interesting posts and sometimes you don't. But the app never stops you from scrolling. These reinforcements implant habits in your brain without you explicitly knowing it- pick up your phone, check for notifications, scroll down like an infinite number of times to check for something interesting and then pull down for refresh. When someone tags you in a photo, you cannot comment on it from the notification bar of the locked screen. You have to click it to open it in the app which takes you down the aforementioned rabbit hole.
The recommended videos and posts on your timeline are suggested using Machine Learning algorithms and are based on your likes, posts, subscription, watch/engagement time and friend circle. Thus you will find posts on your SM that will make you open it again and again and hook you on it for the most time even if you don't want to. Because that is what makes them the most money. Also, When you send a message and the other person is replying, you get to know that the person is typing or if the person is online. This build-up anticipation. Dopamine is also secreted in anticipation of reward. Hence it is exciting to wait till the reply comes, and you stay on the app. In all these ways SM is making behaviour changes without ever triggering the user's awareness.
The solution is NOT to avoid social media suddenly all at once (aka dopamine detox) or know the harmful effects of social media addiction. Mostly because it relies heavily on just motivation, which fades in a week. It also produces a strong urge to access it after some days and once you get a chance you will relapse into the same addictive behaviour. Also, social media is sometimes useful so by quitting it entirely you are losing some perks. The best way is to use the same classical and operant conditioning to make SM less addictive like a calculator app. James Clear has suggested four rules in his book Atomic Habits to control or remove bad habits.
1) Make it invisible: Remove the cues/triggers (conditioned stimulus) of your bad habits from your environment to reduce exposure. eg. Turn off all notifications sounds and vibrations of SM apps. It is highly recommended by Justin Rosenstein (ex-employee of Google and Facebook). There is a good documentary movie related to this called "The Social Dilemma". 2) Make it unattractive: Recall the long term benefits of avoiding your bad habits every day to yourself. Use digital wellbeing to monitor (in the settings of your android phones) and restrict your app use time. If you want you can make recommendations disappear from youtube using add-ons/extensions. 3)Make it difficult: Increase the number of steps between you and your bad habits. You can also use the same app to automatically turn your screen to black & white at night. Lock the apps and websites with long discouraging passwords. Install and use block site extensions in browsers to block websites, require passwords to open them or redirect from SM websites to something else. 4)Make it unsatisfying: Remove the reward of your bad habit and add punishment. You can also ask your friend or family member to hold you accountable. Conversely, you can reward yourself for not using SM for a day or less than some specified time in a day.