Slashdot Mirror
Social Media Copies Gambling Methods 'To Create Psychological Cravings' (theguardian.com)
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. From a report: These methods are so effective they can activate similar mechanisms as cocaine in the brain, create psychological cravings and even invoke "phantom calls and notifications" where users sense the buzz of a smartphone, even when it isn't really there. "Facebook, Twitter and other companies use methods similar to the gambling industry to keep users on their sites," said Natasha Schull, the author of Addiction by Design, which reported how slot machines and other systems are designed to lock users into a cycle of addiction. "In the online economy, revenue is a function of continuous consumer attention -- which is measured in clicks and time spent."
"Gamification" is a concept widespread now; it's not just social media that is using this.
But is this really a bad thing? If there's something I want to use, why not enjoy using it more?
The only issue I see is when people don't realize something has an addictive element to it. But who does not realize that these days, especially of social media? That is talked about widely. People can and do quit. And social media is a healthier drug than some others.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Facebook and Twitter employees breathe same air as casino employees! cheeky bastards!
people advertising their products use every psychological trick they know to make consumers actually like their products. boo friggin' hoo. news at 11
These guys suck at hype...all this AI shit is boring to death. Turning my microwave on remotely is just not that "magical".
Looks like all the people who deleted Facebook for a week to protest their data being sold to Republicans have an excuse for crawling back into the cesspool. They're addicts, so feel sorry for them.
It's a trap!
Where are we going and why are we in a handbasket?
Well the good thing is Slashdot goes counter with few willing to click or spend time here.
Doesn't every form of advertising try to create a 'psychological craving'?
love is just extroverted narcissism
Does this mean the DEA will send in the helos to burn casinos and facebook's farmville fields? Because cocaine-like cravings?
No shit, Sherlock.
... don't you have to use Facebook and Twitter for this to impact me? Maybe we need to imprison the Facebook users? That works for other addictive substances.
Everything social media "does" has only created more aversion to it. At first it was something ignored and tolerated on the periphery. Now it's outright disgust at the concept and everyone involved.
Social media has all the appeal of a shrill, blaring, stupid feminist piece of shit that deserves to be murdered.
So-called 'social media' confirmed for absolutely disgusting.
I would argue that (A) manipulation over time has become less and less subtle, and (B) since everyone knows about the techniques of manipulation it has less effect (hence the manipulation becoming less subtle as they try to increase the dose).
I'm just saying it does little real harm, and makes things people want to use (like Twitter) more enjoyable. Worrying about it seems of little use.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
You should have your head caved in for suggesting otherwise.
It's already known that religion causes similar effects in the brain as drugs.
> create psychological cravings
Well, there go politics and religion.
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
That's not how advertising works.
Advertising connects something we actually need and yearn for, such as meaning, purpose, friends, social standing, with some piece of shit commodity which nobody needs.
Consumerism is a disease which breeds dissatisfaction and alienation from nature. All advertising follows this simple pattern and should be deconstructed to render it harmless.
Maturity is realizing that buying SHIT won't solve anything. It probably doesn't even give the same buzz as it did as a child so it's time to stop.
I had a young PhD friend that was getting backing for an app he was creating based on what he knew about people from his field of study, the brain and computer science. We had a long discussion about security and data, and quite frankly he didn't like what I had to say, even jokingly calling me a Luddite which stung a bit. This was several years ago, now all of a sudden the concerns I and others like Bruce Schneier were bringing up years ago are finally front page news.
:P
George; I win.
Did you ever wake up in the morning, with a Zombie Woof behind your eyes? -- FZ
I have never like gambling - I played a slot machine once for 15 minutes, and it was one of the most boring 15 minutes of my life.
I also don't like social media (unless /. counts). So apparently I don't have the brain chemistry these addiction-enablers are exploiting.
Second class citizen of the New Gilded Age
but I kind of secretly hope for Internet Armageddon. I just fscking hate technology nowadays.
body massage!
Soma makes you happy.
Until it makes you sad.
Emotions cause stress.
Stress causes clicks.
Clicks allow us to steal your privacy, which is protected by the GPDR worldwide and the Canadian and Washington State constitutions.
Theft is good.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
Luddite is shorthand for "I don't want to think too deeply about my choices". People want to make the flesh happy without thinking the price for doing so. Nor endure the inconvenience of, NO.
Does that mean we can game the system if users invest in a personal robot?
and it's been four months since I last used facebook.
... noughf said...
Social Networks Copy Gambling Methods 'To Create Psychological Cravings'
There fixed that for you.
This is Zynga games business model and has been since the beginning.
In my opinion, what Social Media is doing is just a symptom of the overall problem, not the problem itself, which I believe is our entire culture (at least in this country; can't speak for the rest of the world.
Think about it:
* We keep looking for 'magic pills' to make us lose weight
* People want to look like bodybuilders, so they go buy anabolic steroids
* People binge-watch TV shows
* Drive-thru everything
* Buy things online, get same-day delivery
* 'Twitch' games on your smartphone
* Smartphones in general
* Everything has to be faster, faster, faster
What do all these things have in common, you ask? A lack of patience, which the corporate world has indoctrinated us to and encourages us to accept as 'normal'. Got to get that immediate satisfaction, that quick rush of validation! Forget about tomorrow! Live for the now! If you have to wait for it then it's not worth it!
This is news?
This has been going on for a long time...Facebook Farmville was a classic example of this and there are plenty examples that predate Farmville by years.
I thought they had a behavioral psychologist on staff to actually work with addictive behaviors in their games. If the big players are gonna start doing this, they should at least come clean about it.
Hi everyone. I'm Nemo and I'm a recovering social media addict.
...
Welcome to the online meeting of Slashdash, a 12 step social media addict recovery group. Here are the steps we took which are suggested as a program of recovery:
1. We admitted we were powerless over twitter -- that our facebooks had become unmanageable.
2. Came to to believe that an app greater than face filters could restore us to sanity.
3. Made a decision to turn our memes and our streaming over to the care of Ajit as we understood him.
4. Made a searching and fearless inventory of our devices.
5. Admitted to Ajit, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our apps.
6. Were entirely ready to have Ajit uninstall all these apps.
7. Made a pinterest of all the people we had dissed and became willing to make amends to them all.
8. Posted direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would diminish their karma points.
The Russians have won. They have made the world a cesspool of distrust, greed, fear and hate.
Dude has researched the psychology of free-to-play games extensively, has worked as a consultant for some of them
Research have shown that being HAPPY triggers some of the same chemistry, reactions and activity in the brain as Opoids.
Do not be happy becos Drugs are bad!
not to use big brand US social media.
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
That is what gaming always was to me. Figuring out how it works, and figuring out how to game it so I could either overpower my enemies or take a route the game wasn't supposed to allow to reach the finish. Sort of like the hidden mario pipes at the end of -2 levels in the original Super Mario Bros.
Nowadays however the games are carefully designed using spreadsheets to control advancement. I have still played a few of those games, but except during incremental design changes there are rarely opportunities to game it for currency or experience, and usually when there are, they will ban you for using them now. The house always wins has moved to the online realm (Really that has been true since the 90s, with the most egregious example being someone killing Lord Britain while Richard Garriot was RPing him during the middle of an event on Ultima Online, only to be banned and having the activity retconned when it turned out the Lord Britain NPC/GM character wasn't properly flagged immortal.) The games nowadays have been so formulaicly developed that only stockholmed gamers and the intellectually stagnant masses can truly enjoy them, because anyone interested in the mechanics will quickly figure out they are more stacked than a game of blackjack at a major Atlantic City or Las Vegas casino.
So like gambling I have a natural aversion to social media as well I guess