There is plenty of research suggesting that social media has an addictive quality about it. As more social networks emerge, we see a greater increase of impulse-control issues among users.
In a recent study, researchers surveyed 253 undergraduate students about their social media use, emotion regulation, alcohol intake, and Internet addiction. They found that 10% of users experienced "disordered social media use," which means that they displayed addictive behaviors in their usage of Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
You can even take an "Internet Addiction Test" to determine if you use the Internet or social media too frequently.
But what causes our compulsion to constantly check social media? That's the question that Reddit user ___dreadnought posed in a recent thread that provoked several insightful answers.
The 'schedule of reinforcement.'
Randompsychfact compared the experience of social media to gambling:
"Social media checking follows a 'variable-interval' schedule of reinforcement. In other words, you don't know when you'll get a notification, or even if you're just scrolling, come across entertaining stories or media shared by the people you follow. This schedule of reinforcement is resistant to behavioral extinction, in other words, the randomness of the gratification provided by social media makes it hard for you to stop checking."
But is this similar to the habits of someone who has a gambling addiction? Skill_Streaks thinks so:
"Yes. Any gambler (not necessarily an addict) is driven to gamble due to the possibility of receiving a reward (in this case, money). Since they don't know when that reward will come but they know that they have a chance, however small it is, they will play just one more time hundreds of times over because they feel that their next attempt will be a success."
We're 'hooked.'
Redditor Ilovebunnieslikealot redirected the discussion to a book about the user experience entitled Hooked. There are four parts of the experience that make us addicted to social media:
"1. Trigger: Something triggers you to check Facebook- you're lonely, bored, you missed a party and have FOMO. Could also be getting that vibrate + notification.
2. Action: So you go to Facebook to feel like you're with people, entertain yourself, and look at pics of said party. Or you check the new message or notification.
3. Reward: Likes! Comments! Messages! Your phone vibrates- you're wanted! It's even better when it's unpredictable- just like slot machines.
4. Investment: Now you want to do something to get more triggers so you can get rewarded again with likes and messages and digital love! Go post a new status, send a random message, comment on that photo. Maybe someone will give you a like or a comment back and then you'll come back to Step 1 to start the process all over again."
Simply put, social media helps us fill any voids we might encounter throughout the day. In an interview on Conan, comedian Louis C.K. explains his hatred for social media. He described why we need to allow ourselves time to just feel lonely:
At the end of the day, we all want to be loved.
Ratthing said the desire to connect is an innate trait in humans, and is likely unavoidable:
"Humans are a social species. As such, we derive pleasure from connecting with others, and communicating with others. Also, there are some communications that are better than others. For example, in Facebook, we generally find it rewarding or reinforcing to receive messages or 'likes' to our posts, and also find it reinforcing to read posts from people we like."
Our need to connect with others is linked to the concept of a "schedule of reinforcement:"
"We are more compulsive about getting rewarded by things that appear randomly, or unpredictably, than we are about getting rewarded about things that appear in predictable patterns (e.g., all the time, or every other visit). Think of the compulsive behavior involved in using slot machines in a casino. The probabilities on those machines are programmed to reward players based on a careful analysis of the schedule of reinforcement of playing the game."
As a result, we become compulsive about all things communication. "Because the schedule of reinforcement is random, it means the behavior will be more persistent over time," ratthing wrote.
At the end of the day, we all just want to feel connected.
