A new study from New York University explains why social media dominates people's lives. Researchers discovered that people's efforts to increase likes and other forms of online interaction follow a pattern of reward-based learning, a type of learning reinforced by receiving rewards.
According to the study's authors, using social media is similar to the behavior of animals seeking food rewards, like lab rats. Professor David Amodio, a co-author of the study, stated, "These results demonstrate that social media engagement follows fundamental principles common across species for reward learning. The use of social media can lead to addiction. These results help us understand why social media controls the daily lives of many people and provide evidence for this; they are akin to research on reward learning and addiction, and how to address excessive and troubling online engagement."
Many people describe social media usage as addictive, with users being drawn to check social media to the point of nearly forgetting basic needs like eating and drinking. In 2020, more than four billion people spent an average of several hours daily on online platforms including Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Researchers mentioned that while social media usage has been extensively studied, the reasons behind people's attachment and engagement with social media remain unclear at times.
To investigate this, experts analyzed whether social media use could be explained by how our minds deal with and learn from rewards. The study focused on over a million social media posts made by more than 4000 users. The researchers found that individuals post more frequently in response to a higher rate of likes and less frequently when they receive fewer likes. By analyzing this pattern using computational models, the team confirmed it closely follows known mechanisms of reward-based learning. In particular, it appears that engagement and interaction on social media is driven by principles similar to those motivating animals to work for their food rewards.
Additionally, the study's senior author, Dr. Bjorn Lindstrom, stated, "Our findings could help lead to a better understanding of why social media dominates the daily lives of many people, and they could also provide evidence for ways to address excessive online behavior."
