Have you ever wonder why so much people do spend so much time on social networks such as Facebook ?
You might say that it is because we live in a more and more social world.
Sure, but what keep them coming again and again and again ?
Doesn't it look like there is a kind of addiction behind this ? Like people ***need**** this.
In an interview several months ago, one of the founder of Facebook admitted that he "helped to create a monster"
And he explains why.
Facebook has deliberately been designed to use a human psychology "weakness", what the interviewed founder qualifies as "psychology of human reward". It is a kind of addiction to acknowledgement.
What is this ? Simple. When someone become aware that he got a like or that someone else commented on one of his/her photo etc..., it instantly create some dopamine, making him/her feel good. Then the dopamine effect disappear and make this person want to get it back. So he/she comes back and post some more content to get some more "likes".
Do you recognize something here ?
Almost every online social network use this "acknowledgement" effect now : Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat and of course ... Steem.
Not only Steem is using the same psychology trick ( not as deliberately as Facebook though) to make people come back again but there is also another added factor that increases the addictive effect : money.
In Steem you can earn money along with the "likes". So you can get acknowledgement and potentially make a living (or try to at least).
This makes Steem even more addictive.
And this of course is a double sided edge sword, on Steem, people tend to be more addicted but also, they tend to be much more disapointed (and faster) if they don't get what they "need". Hence the high rate of fast abandonned/inactive accounts.
The founders of Facebook were aware of that effect and designed their product very specifically so that it is easy to get a little dopamine hit from time to time : even if you don't post much, you will always get a like, a notification, something new from time to time, from a far friend or whatever... And you will come back.
Steem was not (at least not consciously I think) build that way. That is why lots of people leave Steem after a while. They didn't get their "dopamine hit" and are very disapointed. Then, they never come back. It would be easy to make a few tricks so that people get a "Steem like" more often (bots, incentives...) .
In which case, ... Steem could truly become like Facebook.
If this happens, would this be a good thing or a bad thing ?
Everyone will have its opinion on this.
I personally am not really involved in Steem, so I kinda "don't care". But it would be interesting to see how this potentially highly addictive cocktail evolves.
True and when they are still disappointed and try to convince you to upvote them on a facebook group... me and @t-miles experienced how aggressive a compliment can sound :D
Dopamine is the neurological mechanism that is used to establish and reinforce an addiction, the more rewards we have, the greater the activation of the neurotransmitter
Thanks for detailing this out.
I'd say there is one big difference between Steemit and Facebook. On Facebook when I get a like on my pic it is very different than on Steemit because on Facebook these are all people that I know whereas on Steemit I have no real personal connection with any of the people liking my posts. So if for example on Facebook a girl that I like likes my post that much more gratifying than a random person on Steemit liking my post. Facebook has also become a symbol of your social status (which I do not think is a good thing). Whether we admit it or not we judge other people based on howmany likes they got on their posts and pictures. Its a measure of your popularity.
Will Steemit produce the same negative aspects of Facebook? I don't think it will serve as a confidence booster/killer like Facebook does. But Its hard to tell what will happen once we go mainstream and the user-base really starts to explode. Right now my favourite part of Steemit is the community/people on here. There are no trolls yet, and people are genuinely trying to contribute real, useful content. And the big difference here is that on Steemit people are trying to make A) learn from high-caliber people B) earn a little extra money, not gain some sense of self-worth like they are on Facebook.
Jeez that was a longer post than I was planning to write:P
Lol, yeah quite long answer :))
Indeed on Facebook mostly friends interacts with you unless you have set your posts to be "visible by the entire world" (or something like that). Whereas on Steem, anybody can vote for you. Always.
Great that you like Steemit community.
Really, @eternalsunshine, Facebook and Steemit are thought to be having a "dopamine effect", on the other social media platforms, in the world of today. I believe in you that, they have become so invaluable to the global community, because of their technological orientation and innovation.
Facebook has the largest number of people, while Steemit is growing in number and ranking.
I am @gboyegaogunmola. I am a writer. I want people to solve personal problems, through reading my personality literature.
I believe that, the kind of technology which a social platform is based on, should determine whether it will achieve its goals. This is because, it is important that the platform provides what the people need.
I also believe that, the technology adopted by the Steemit platform, which is rewarding the authors and curators for their contribution, have made the social blogging network invaluable in the world of today.
Sure there are lots of good sides for the social network use. And reaching wide audience is one of them. I am myself using social network because its great at times.
Just found interesting to speak about this strange effect that not much people are aware of. Once you are aware of this, then you can choose more accordingly.
I am grateful for your comment, @eternalsunshine. I have enjoyed the information about the major social media networks. I mean, Facebook and Steemit.
I believe that, the social network which can reach out to the widest audience, will be the choice of many people in the world of today. This will include the writers and readers.
I am really interested, in getting the right kind of exposure, that will help me to reach my audience. I want to show the skills I have gained in writing literature on psychology to the interested people.
Thank you, for the information.
Many people contrived addicted.benar what there is dipost you people increasingly difficult to release this one facebook media.
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Wow, thats a great service. The audio version is almost perfect. Thank you.