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Social Media Copies Gambling Methods 'To Create Psychological Cravings' (theguardian.com)

Posted by msmash on from the closer-look dept.

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."

36 of 80 comments (clear)

  1. So is everyone by SuperKendall · · Score: 2

    "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
    1. Re:So is everyone by decipher_saint · · Score: 4, Insightful

      If a person is up all night worrying about their number of Twitter followers the game is playing them

      --
      crazy dynamite monkey
    2. Re:So is everyone by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 1

      "Gamification" is a concept widespread now; it's not just social media that is using this.

      You could also argue that the ratings system on Slashdot are gamification-light.

      Sure, they have a practical purpose, but really any score over 3 doesn't have a practical purpose- but it might satisfy some people's inner tinglings and make them want to seek out more 4s and 5s.

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    3. Re:So is everyone by CanHasDIY · · Score: 2

      But is this really a bad thing? If there's something I want to use, why not enjoy using it more?

      This isn't about "something you want to use," it's about using knowledge of psychology to subtly manipulate people into using something more than they would if they weren't being manipulated.

      --
      An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
    4. Re:So is everyone by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Facebook invented that? And here I thought Edward Bernays wrote the book on it in 1928 and taught the techniques to American politicians and corporations, being responsible for such gems as "making the world safe for democracy" and getting women to smoke. But apparently this is a new issue we have to deal with as a society, not an industry older than your grandparents. Go figure.

    5. Re:So is everyone by tomhath · · Score: 2

      Not really "knowledge of psychology", more like Marketing 101.

    6. Re:So is everyone by vux984 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      "But is this really a bad thing? If there's something I want to use, why not enjoy using it more?"

      Because its not something you actually want to use that much. You've been conditioned to want to use it more than you objectively wanted to.

      "The only issue I see is when people don't realize something has an addictive element to it"

      Some things are inherently addictive; education and social support mechanisms are the only reasonable response.

      Some things are designed to be addictive. Or that are inherently slightly addictive are honed until they are maximally addictive. A lot of social media, and free2play games are in this category, and this is evil. It's basically hacking people's brains.

      There is nothing wrong with, say, making the user interface to Social media more intuitive, and more pleasant to use. There is nothing wrong with adding features that are genuinely useful.

      But consider some of the tactics in play. If you don't login for a few days for example, you might get messages saying 'someone said something about you... login to find out what!' is that REALLY helpful... if i wanted to login i would have. If someone really said something so important that you had to reach beyond the platform to send me a an email just to let me know... why isn't what they said IN THE EMAIL ?? The answer because its NOT about being a feature to my benefit... its trying to lure me back; trying to trigger that craving.

      And 'gamification' with achievements and scores or for example 'reputation' ... creates feedback loops in lots of people where they want to 'finish' or 'have the most' or something, and then they stop doing other activities to spend more time 'playing this game'. But this game really isn't that fun, and its been designed not to be as fun as possible while you play it, but to be as addictive as possible so you never stop playing it even after you realize its shit you still keep doing it... because that's what addiction IS. And it only exists precisely to be addictive so it can keep your eyeballs.

    7. Re:So is everyone by alvinrod · · Score: 3, Interesting

      The problem is that all of these platforms are businesses and the most successful will win out over their competition. This naturally leads businesses to stumble across this behavior even if they don't understand what they're actually doing and for those businesses which don't follow suit to lose out. There are a lot of games that are essentially Skinner boxes, but I don't think anyone sat down in the 90's and intentionally built them that way. Instead they probably tried out a lot of things and discovered what felt the most pleasurable to them and other developers saw the success and followed suit. Eventually some people more well-versed in the scientific literature noticed some similarities between the research and these games (or other domains) and pointed this out. People were already doing it without actively understanding what they were doing, but at this point I think there were some developers that realized that could build even better boxes instead of the sloppy approximations that had been created up until then. Now you've got shitty microtransaction games that cost perhaps a few tens of thousand of dollars to develop, but can pull in millions because they've been purpose built to addict people.

      I'd be less worried about it if Twitter were trying to create a useful communication platform. That, however, appears to be something of an afterthought. We can certainly use these techniques for ill, but if you're using them to get people to exercise more, eat better, etc. I have a hard time finding fault in using such cognitive tricks. Hell, I've intentionally used some of them on myself in order to adjust my behavior. The only way I view it as dishonest or deceitful is to do it to someone else without explaining to them what is being done and how it works. If someone wants to keep buying game coins, collecting virtual points, amassing followers, etc. after the nature of what they're doing has been explained to them, I have to conclude that such is their own business.

    8. Re:So is everyone by umafuckit · · Score: 1

      Not really "knowledge of psychology", more like Marketing 101.

      I don't know if "psychology" is the right term, but what is happening is beyond marketing. It's beyond marketing because the user continuously interacts with a product that is giving rewards and being tweaked to retain the user's attention. In this respect it's indeed more like a slot machine than a static product being marketed.

      --
      soylentnews.org
    9. Re:So is everyone by vux984 · · Score: 2

      Exactly. Its 'light'. My karma is excellent, and has been forever. If its keeping score I don't know if I'm winning, and its not really rewarding me with points anywhere I can keep track of.

      It has acheivements, and I have some, but i don't know how many there are, or how to get them, or compare them to someone else. And I don't care about them, and they might not even work anymore... :p

      There's no leaderboards. There's no real competition. Compare it to stack or expert-sex-change or some of the various other forums out there; ive seen Q&A type threads where 90%+ of the thread is heated argument over who should get the "points", people asking for plus rep, people complaining that someone else just took their answer and added to it to whore points, they'll complain loudly and repeatedly that the original asker ghosted without assigning points, and then debate amongst themselves over which answer should get the points... etc... like what the fuck. those people have long since stopped showing up because they enjoy sharing answers to technical questions -- they're showing up because they want to 'win', they want the high score on some leaderboard, and the shiniest avatar / biggest purple gem glowing star / or whatever. I feel sorry for them, because they've been hacked by the site operators to spend hours of time providing content for free, and they aren't even really enjoying it for its own sake anymore... clearly... because they spend half their time raging about who got 'points'. They can't quit... or they'll drop off the scoreboard... and they've invested so much time into it. Etc... its demented.

      "but it might satisfy some people's inner tinglings and make them want to seek out more 4s and 5s."

      I guess so. But some people will get addicted to anything. Slashdot's system is extremely weak; and its clearly not designed or optimized to maximize site engagement, and so its pretty inoffensive. I've seen very few arguments about moderation... and whatever tiny niche here that is obsessed with getting +5s is pretty innocuous.

    10. Re:So is everyone by SharpFang · · Score: 1

      Definitely not 101. 101 would tell you this works and is profitable. How to actually pull it off so that it works is more of PhD level.

      --
      45 5F E1 04 22 CA 29 C4 93 3F 95 05 2B 79 2A B2
    11. Re:So is everyone by tomhath · · Score: 1

      Nah. My spam inbox is full of coupon offers, one day only sales, are you still interested questions, etc., etc. Everyone is constantly poking and baiting.

    12. Re:So is everyone by vux984 · · Score: 1

      Touche... but most of the categories aren't really directly gameable. And the fact that I've been here for years and didn't know it existed tells you how important it is around here. :)

    13. Re:So is everyone by CanHasDIY · · Score: 1

      You do realize that "Marketing" is really just applied psychology, right?

      --
      An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
    14. Re:So is everyone by messymerry · · Score: 1

      Let me put it this way: The purse is not bottomless. Each one of us has a finite amount of time to do the act of living our lives. If we are spending 4 hours a day with the helpful little flat butler in our pocket, what are we not doing with that time that we should be doing. Facebook churns through about 1500 lives a day. Is that not enough???

      --
      Dear Microlimp: I give you 2 valid product keys for win7 and you reject both of them. Piss off you wankers!!!
    15. Re:So is everyone by SharpFang · · Score: 1

      That's a drop-out's approach, with 0.1% success ratio. Quantity over quality. Copycats that think they can grab your attention through just flooding you with shit. You think this is it and that you're immune because you ignore them. Nope, these are dregs. You're likely unaware of the actual pros who already managed to grab you.

      --
      45 5F E1 04 22 CA 29 C4 93 3F 95 05 2B 79 2A B2
  2. Don't respond to this article by presidenteloco · · Score: 3, Funny

    It's a trap!

    --

    Where are we going and why are we in a handbasket?
  3. Advertising by avandesande · · Score: 1

    Doesn't every form of advertising try to create a 'psychological craving'?

    --
    love is just extroverted narcissism
  4. Watson said it best by TimMD909 · · Score: 2

    No shit, Sherlock.

    1. Re:Watson said it best by DaveyJJ · · Score: 1

      Coming here to post exactly this. Well done, good sir.

      --
      DaveyJJ
  5. But does it really work anymore by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    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
    1. Re:But does it really work anymore by CanHasDIY · · Score: 1

      I would argue that (A) manipulation over time has become less and less subtle,

      Disagree - the longer time goes on, the more refined and effective manipulation techniques become, and thus they become even more difficult to notice. Propaganda is more effective today than it was in the 1930's, partially due to being less noticeable (if you can see it, it's not very good propaganda) by the people being manipulated.

      A good example of the subtlety of modern manipulation is evidenced by the 24-hour news networks: someone is deciding what stories to run, which ones to ignore, and how to spin them all - notice that CNN and FOX can have 2 completely different angles based on the exact same data: They're manipulating their audiences by determining what information those people will be exposed to.

      (B) since everyone knows about the techniques of manipulation it has less effect

      That's one hell of an assumption to make.

      I'm just saying it does little real harm

      A point which I would argue - scientific studies have strongly indicated that the more time a person spends on social networking websites, the more likely they are to develop dangerous mental problems, like increased feelings of isolation, anxiety, depression, and in extreme cases, can attribute to violent behaviors.

      --
      An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
    2. Re:But does it really work anymore by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

      A good example of the subtlety of modern manipulation is evidenced by the 24-hour news networks: someone is deciding what stories to run, which ones to ignore, and how to spin them all

      How is that subtle? Everyone knows that, and they talk about it all the time. The news network choices in what they are are as subtle as a brick to the head.

      scientific studies have strongly indicated that the more time a person spends on social networking websites, the more likely they are to develop dangerous mental problems

      And smoking is bad for you and people get fat eating too much. But people do all those things anyway, knowing all the details. That in the end is the flaw in any line of thinking that tries to protect people, because people will still decide to do things they know full well is harmful and you cannot stop them.

      People don't stay on social media because of some sinister complex algorithm at work; they stay for the connections (good and bad). The choices the social networks make might slightly alter participation but not to any meaningful extent.

      --
      "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  6. Take the plank out of thy own eye first by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 1

    > create psychological cravings

    Well, there go politics and religion.

    --
    (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
  7. My experience by al0ha · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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.

    George; I win. :P

    --
    Did you ever wake up in the morning, with a Zombie Woof behind your eyes? -- FZ
  8. Re:I don't get it ... by omnichad · · Score: 1

    You're on social media right now. Welcome.

  9. That Explains A Couple Of things To Me by crunchygranola · · Score: 3, Insightful

    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
    1. Re:That Explains A Couple Of things To Me by Chris+Mattern · · Score: 1

      Tell me more about this videogame in which you master-bate while riding your bike downhill while eating sugary foods.

      You mean this one?

  10. Re:I am not a consumer, I am a free man by gazelam · · Score: 1

    The most effective form of advertising makes you forget that a product is involved at all. Watch the Mad Men episode "The Wheel" and see how that goes. Kodak's campaign is essentially selling you your memories, at least in the idealized way, not a slide projector. That was a powerful thing to realize. Now all our memories are divorced from film and embodied on our hard drives.

  11. Maybe I've been in the game too long... by gravyface · · Score: 1

    but I kind of secretly hope for Internet Armageddon. I just fscking hate technology nowadays.

    --
    body massage!
  12. We have always loved Soma by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 1

    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! --
  13. It's our entire culture not just Social Media by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 1

    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!

  14. Yes, they're Skinner boxes by Chris+Mattern · · Score: 1

    This is news?

  15. Didn't Zynga do this first? by Krishnoid · · Score: 1

    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.

  16. Welcome to social media addicts anonymous by mnemotronic · · Score: 1

    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.
  17. Another reason by AHuxley · · Score: 1

    not to use big brand US social media.

    --
    Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"