You keep scrolling and scrolling and scrolling and scrolling. Post after post. Video after video. Ad after ad.
It is no secret that we are spending a lot of time on social networking websites. According to a report by We Are Social, people are spending 2 hours and 25 minutes on social media each day, equating to one waking day of their life every week.
One contributing factor is the ability to endlessly scroll. In the web world, this endless scrolling is called “infinite scroll” and basically it allows you to keep scrolling without having to go to the next page until you reach the last post.
Without anything to give a few seconds of pause between the posts, many of us find ourselves mindlessly scrolling. One of the big issues with infinite scroll is that you do not know when you are going to reach the bottom, so you keep scrolling and scrolling. I believe infinite scroll should be limited and rarely used if other options for displaying content are available.
Infinite scroll hooks you in
From a psychological standpoint, infinite scroll is powerful and hooks you in. Over time, our brains have adapted to allow us to automate tasks that are known to us allowing us to create space for new experiences and events.
This does not happen when we are engaging with a website or social platform that has infinite scroll.
“Nothing holds our attention better than the unknown….Our brains can’t get enough of trying to predict what’s next…like a loose slot machine, the infinite scroll gives users fast access to variable rewards.” – Nir Eyal wrote in Psychology Today.
Think of infinite scroll on social media as a random content aggregator. After scrolling for a while, the content on the web page will change slightly based on your previous activity.
Factor that with the visual and audio stimuli and fear of missing out and you are bound to keep scrolling despite your best intentions.
One way to fight back against endless scrolling is to give yourself a time limit. Some operating systems and third-party apps can restrict apps after you have used them for a certain amount of time.
Social networks make more money the longer you are on
Social media companies are intentional with how they are displaying information and content in your feed. It is all designed to keep you on the page longer because the more time you spend on the platform, the more money they make.
Social networks are businesses that make money off advertisements, specifically targeted advertisements. The companies do this by learning about each person’s likes and dislikes and then delivering content you are most likely to engage with.
Our feeds are all unique based on our activity and engagement. The more data social media companies can learn about you, the better content and ads it can serve to you in your feed.
This is why Facebook was very outspoken against Apple’s plan to allow users to opt out of tracking. It needs this information to serve you targeted ads.
Targeted advertisements are more effective because it allows brands to get more specific with people who are most likely to engage with that advertisement. This gives advertisers a greater return on investment than more generic advertisements.
You can see how targeted advertisements work in real time by looking for a particular item on a search engine and then seeing advertisements on your social media feed based on that topic. Now the social network can sprinkle these advertisements along with the other content in your feed, giving you more opportunities to stay a little longer.
Once we understand how social networks try to keep us on their platforms longer, we can begin to take back some of that lost time of mindless scrolling.
Joe Gullo