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Social media platforms are using the same techniques as gambling firms to create psychological dependencies and ingrain their products in the lives of their users, experts warn. These methods are. Locality — Slot machines are regulated differently depending on what state you’re in, but social media apps are available globally. If we attempt to regulate social media apps the same way we. Hide Social Media Slot Machines Print Social media platforms are using the same techniques as gambling firms to create psychological dependencies and ingrain their products in the lives of their users, experts warn.

Social media: the Vegas slot machine Posted by Fiona Todd on 28 th September 2020. Home News & Views Social media: the Vegas slot machine. Share this article. The question of whether social media is bad for our mental health is something that has been debated for several years. Social media is awful and whatever pleasures it confers in the form of mildly amusing memes or a fleeting sense of community/belonging are massively outweighed by its well-documented downsides.

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Social media addiction is not an accident. Social networks are consciously orchestrating a user experience designed to increase dependency. In fact, they’re using psychological triggers and tricks from casinos, among other tactics.

These companies may not have wanted to create “slot machines”, but their goals have driven them to build such products. Some studies have even found that Facebook influences the brain just as alcohol or drugs might.

Early last year, Facebook head of marketing for North America, Michelle Klein, bragged about how the average Millennial was spending about 145 minutes on the social network daily, and checking his/her phone about 157 times.

Tech platforms have begun to push apps for that very reason, so they can captivate users via devices that they always have on their person: mobile phones. Several users have already begun to classify social media dependency as an issue, as have mental health institutions.

They even have a term for when people attempt a detox, but succumb to withdrawal symptoms and fail. It’s called social media reversion.

While the ethics of enabling or leveraging social media addiction may be questionable, the fact remains that technology is evolving to embrace it and it holds lessons that you can use to increase conversions and customer lifespan.

Business and psychology professor Adam Alter discusses the evolution in his book: Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of Keeping Us Hooked.

In the age of behavioral addiction, a basic understanding of how it all works is crucial. Why are so many products that are built today irresistible and addictive?

Here are seven principles behind social media addiction, and how you can use them in your social media marketing strategy, and to build an easy-adoption product and brand experience.

1. Illusion of control

People love being in control and having the power to make things happen, effortlessly. Many products use this behavioral tendency to build irresistible offerings.

Product designers work on creating controlled systems that mirror and manipulate the functioning of your mind. Essentially, all design is intended to drive you to perform certain actions, so there’s no room left for unguided thinking.

For instance, look at the infamous hamburger menu. You click on it and you’re given options. Users are given the power to execute a handful of actions (set choices), with the slight touch of a button.

Here are the questions that don’t even occur to most users, as pointed out by Tristan Harris, formed designer and ethicist for Google.

What isn’t on the menu?
Why am I given a limited number of options?
What’s the intent of the person who designed the menu?
Is the menu actually furthering my needs or is it presenting alluring distractions?

You have the power to like and react to other people’s posts, but you’re in turn a slave to likes and reactions on your posts.

How to make ethical use of the power of control

Include users in your product-feedback loop. This not only puts users’ needs first, but also happens to be a great growth hack for Saas tools.
Be transparent about your values and intent as a company, so users aren’t subjected to trickery by any means.
Use click-bait titles that promise your audience control, but only when your content justifies them.

You can use this type of title only if the mistakes are relevant and you’re giving your readers actionable advice they can use to avoid them.

Create marketing campaigns that truly add value to your audience. Share social media posts that are informative and useful, and keep company propaganda to a minimum.

You could use DrumUp to curate content related to your industry, and share fresh posts that are valuable to your audience.

2. Intermittent variable rewards

We discussed how the average millennial checks his/her phone over 150 times a day. Why do you think that is? Are these people making 150 conscious choices when doing so?

One of the most certain why to make an app addictive is by turning it into a slot machine.

How does a slot machine work?
It links a user’s action with variable rewards.

So if a user pulls a lever, he’s either given an exciting reward, or nothing.

Twitter notifications and follower numbers are recognized as rewards by your brain.

App notifications are slot machines in a way. If you turn on your wifi or data on your mobile phone, you sometimes get notifications from Facebook and other times you don’t. Some of your Facebook photos end up being very well-liked, while others are ignored. But to check on them, you probably turn on your data and look at your device multiple times a day.

Slot machines in the US generate more revenue than theme parks, movies and baseball, combined.

How to make ethical use of rewards

Create more user-considerate, harmless designs that reduce addiction. Ensure that your notifications are easy on the eyes and don’t cause untoward disruptions.
Try and use notifications that help users achieve tasks important to them, against using them to serve your own purpose.

Google’s notifications are well-designed, non-intrusive and more often than not received with appreciation.

Reduce the frequency of interruptions, to serve your purpose and protect users from addiction.

For instance, DrumUp sends you one notification a day, at a set time, to tell you that your content suggestions are ready, instead of notifying you each time it finds a story.

Since the notification comes at the same time everyday, you can predict and check your phone only then.

3. Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO)

99DaysOfFreedom is a website that encourages people to quit Facebook for 99 days. Cornell University used data from the website to study how people fared at Facebook detox. They found that many face withdrawal symptoms and ultimately fail.

The withdrawal symptoms are closely related to FOMO, or The Fear Of Missing Out.

If you’re convinced that an app is giving you a continuous stream of must-know information, entertainment, friendships and prospect sexual relationships, it’s hard to quit or unsubscribe, because you could miss out on something important.

Computer scientist Jonathan Harris proved the network effect by creating a website. On the website, you can view streams of content showing people engaged in activities, much like on social networks. After a few minutes, the website locks you out, revoking access for 24 hours and allowing you to experience subtle withdrawal symptoms.

How to make ethical use of FOMO

Make users curious about updates, new features and rewards. FOMO runs on the principle of curiosity, which is what you should aim to create.

When launching a new feature, create some mystery around it before you reveal it to users. You don’t need to have them checking in every minute, but saying things outright and plainly isn’t the answer either. Create a mild, workable balance of curiosity.

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Social Media Is A Slot Machine