Have you ever opened a social media app for a few minutes, only to look up and realise that an hour has passed by without you even realising? Well, you are not alone, as it happens with most of us, because social media platforms and apps are designed to grab our attention and retain it for as long as possible. What’s fascinating about social media apps is that much of this happens without us even realising it.
This is the special thing about social media; it keeps us entertained without us even noticing it. Here today, we will be discussing some of the ways in which social media keeps us entertained without us noticing, using psychology, design, and smart algorithms.
1. Endless Scrolling and the Infinite Feed
One of the most obvious ways in which social media platforms like TikTok keep us hooked for hours is through infinite scroll. The infinite scroll feature is found in almost all social media apps these days, and it removes any clear endpoint to your scrolling session. So as long as you keep on swiping or scrolling, new content will keep on coming without any pauses or having to wait for pages to load.
This endless scrolling and the infinite feed feature are so useful in keeping us hooked to our screens for hours because new content keeps coming in front of you, and there is no natural break, so you can consume content endlessly, for as long as you want to.
2. Personalized Algorithms and Feeds
Social media apps offer personalised feeds that work based on a highly sophisticated algorithm. The job of this algorithm is to know what you like on the platform by tracking what you view, like, share, save, and even how long you pause on a post. Based on this behaviour, the algorithm then tailors the next batch of content to suit your preferences to keep you hooked to the app for longer.
The reason it keeps us entertained is that we see only the content that feels relevant to us, and there’s little to no “boring” content to scroll past, keeping us hooked to the app for hours.
3. Notifications That Create Urgency
Social media apps also make the best use of notifications and create urgency to keep the users coming back. As soon as you get a new like or comment, the small red dot or the buzz that your phone makes is designed to act as a mini dopamine hit so that you can feel important and keep checking the app. Notifications spark curiosity, create a sense of urgency and FOMO, and interrupt your real-world tasks, ultimately nudging you back into the app.
4. Integration of Short-Form Content
Our average attention span keeps on decreasing, for one reason or another, and in a world of decreasing attention spans, social media makes the best use of short-form content. Due to decreasing attention spans, short-form content has become popular worldwide and on social media apps. For this reason, stories, reels, shorts, memes, and short videos have become increasingly popular on all social media platforms to deliver maximum entertainment in minimum time.
The reason why short-form content is so effective in keeping us entertained is that it gives us quick hits of humour, emotion, and surprise, the next video is always just a swipe away, and you get addicted to watching “just one more video” over and over again. Because of the widespread popularity of short-form video content, apps like CapCut have become the go-to choice for people to create short-form videos themselves.
5. Social Validation and FOMO
Humans are social creatures that want to belong, be liked, and stay in the loop. Since social media platforms have become popular throughout the world, these platforms tap into this natural instinct of humans through social validation and FOMO.
We keep on checking stories, feeds, and notifications to avoid missing something important. Seeing others’ lives triggers a desire to stay active and engaged. Plus, likes, shares, comments, and engagement with your posts can make you feel seen and validated. So even when you are scrolling on social media, you are ensuring to participate in a giant social village that no one wants to be left out of.
