Hey Friends,

In 1971 Michael Zeiler performed a famous experiment with pigeons. He placed a simple button inside the birdcage and started by feeding the birds every time they pecked on the button. After a while, he changed the experiment to reward the birds randomly instead of every time they pecked the button. He found when the reward wasn't guaranteed the birds pecked the button twice as often and concluded that rewards delivered unpredictably were far more enticing than those delivered on a known pattern.

Scientists now know that there is something about unpredictability that releases dopamine, a key neurotransmitter for regulating our sense of craving.

Fast forward to the mid-2000s and tech giants replicated this same basic behaviour in many of their apps and websites sprinkling 'Intermittent variable rewards' all over their products. Now notification badges and the swipe of a finger can satisfy our sense of craving; the uncertainty of what lies beneath a notification is too irresistible. We know someone may have liked one of our posts, but we don't know who, or how many people. And it’s this unpredictability and the endless possibilities of what might lie in our notifications that keep us coming back for more.

It would be interesting to repeat Zeiler's experiment, but replace the pigeons with humans, and the food pellets with social media notifications. I wonder if reducing the frequency, and unpredictability of notifications and updates would reduce our craving and need to constantly check our accounts.

So, next time you check Facebook or Twitter for updates remember Zeiler's pigeons!

Take care,

Chris

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Things I've found interesting this week

\\ One Link: Why offices may never be the same post Covid-19

\\ Two Link: Should There Be Limits on Persuasive Technologies?

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