How Social Media Has Perfected User Engagement

    The modern world is dominated by social media platforms that have perfected the art of capturing user attention through algorithm-driven, short form content. Since TikTok’s near exponential rise with its sub-60 second videos during the COVID quarantine, nearly every social media platform has followed suit. Instagram’s Reels, Snapchat’s Spotlight, and even non-social media platforms like Spotify have introduced their own versions of short form, scrolling content, where snippets of songs or videos captivate the users experience. But what makes this type of content so effective at capturing our attention, and what are the consequences of this constant engagement? To understand this phenomenon, it’s crucial to examine how our brains process distractions and manage attention. 

    The addictiveness of short form content lies in the algorithms used by these platforms, which continuously learn what keeps our attention and prioritize showing us similar content. This idea ties into the topic covered in Nicole Hakim’s paper titled “Controlling the Flow of Distracting Information in Working Memory”. Hakim’s study explores how attention and working memory (WM) are managed in the face of distractions. She outlines two key processes: spatial attention capture, which determines where our attention is drawn, and item-based capture, which decides whether a distraction enters our working memory, depending on its relevance to the task at hand. A crucial aspect of item-based capture is that task-irrelevant distractions can be suppressed, preserving cognitive resources for relevant information. This idea establishes a core principle of attention control: WM is not passively filled but actively managed to maintain efficiency in complex environments.  

    Social media platforms capitalize on this by exploiting these cognitive processes to foster addictive behaviors, as discussed in the article, “The Age of Doom Scrolling – Social Media’s Attractive Addiction” by Drs. Rajeshwari and Meenakshi. The authors examine the phenomenon of “doom scrolling”, where users mindlessly consume large amounts of content. Social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram use algorithms that deliver tailored, highly relevant content, ensuring that the videos presented to the user continuously capture both spatial and item-based attention. This keeps working memory gates open to task-relevant distraction, which prolongs user engagement and reinforces the cycle of doom scrolling. When our WM is constantly filled with seemingly relevant information, our ability to refocus on other tasks diminishes, leading to addictive behaviors.  

    One might expect that this cycle would be broken by irrelevant ads, momentarily disrupting the content flow and loosening social media’s grip on the user. However, platforms have learned to manipulate even ads to maintain user retention. For instance, when someone downloads a new app on an Apple device, they are prompted with a message asking if they would like to “allow [app] to track activity across other apps and websites”, promising a better, more personalized, ad experience. By tracking behavior across multiple platforms, social media companies can create hyper-relevant advertisements that not only capture attention, but keep users engaged with the platform and reinforce the cycle of constant content consumption.  

    While social media does offer some potential benefits for communication and expression, the negatives of doom scrolling often outweigh these advantages, leading to consequences such as depression, anxiety, and disrupted sleep patterns. Studies show that addiction to social media can result in poor mental health and productivity (Beyari). Thankfully, both Hakim’s and Rajeshwari and Meenakshi’s papers provide strategies for breaking free from the overstimulation of WM and doom scrolling. Hakim suggests strengthening attentional control through mindfulness and focused practice, while Rajeshwari and Meenakshi recommend setting intentional limits on social media usage. By adopting these strategies, individuals can hopefully regain control over their attention and create healthier relationships with the double-sided sword that is social media.  

 

References 

Beyari H. The Relationship between Social Media and the Increase in Mental Health Problems. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Jan 29;20(3):2383. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20032383. PMID: 36767749; PMCID: PMC9915628.  

Hakim N, Feldmann-Wüstefeld T, Awh E, Vogel EK. Controlling the Flow of Distracting Information in Working Memory. Cereb Cortex. 2021 Jun 10;31(7):3323-3337. doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhab013. PMID: 33675357; PMCID: PMC8196257. 

Rajeshwari S, Meenakshi S. The age of doom scrolling - Social media's attractive addiction. J Educ Health Promot. 2023 Jan 31;12:21. doi: 10.4103/jehp.jehp_838_22. PMID: 37034854; PMCID: PMC10079169.