By Manoshij Banerjee, an independent consultant on digital culture, and Shahid Abdulla, faculty member, Information Systems Area, IIM Kozhikode
This January Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg had to face a fiery congressional hearing in the US on internet child safety. A few months prior, Meta was sued for designing addictive features into the Facebook and Instagram apps that kept young users on these apps “for longer and repeatedly coming back.” In this connection, the famed Czech author Milan Kundera’s words come to mind: “Happiness is the longing for repetition”. It turns out this is what ‘sticky’ digital products are all about. How important is stickiness to the success of an app on the internet chock-full of apps and use cases? App stickiness is defined as the ratio of daily active users to monthly active users of an app and is at a striking 50% for social media apps. The way we interact with not just apps, but also with the all-encompassing device, the smartphone, falls into a cyclical pattern – a loop of behavior driven by the very mechanisms that cultivate habits. Understanding these mechanisms sheds light on why we find ourselves pulled back into the digital embrace, even when we suspect that this digital gratification is qualitatively different from true contentment.
The Hooked Cycle is a framework named after the actual ‘hooking’ of an app that also puts a cyclical process into perspective. It outlines four stages: seeking, action, reward, and investment. We seek our smartphones out due to physical cues of boredom or the anticipation of communication arriving. The action of unlocking the device and engaging with the app is effortless, thanks to its user-friendly design. This varies of course: while aimless scrolling on Instagram is often devoid of any cognitive load and is thus very effortless, checking one’s WhatsApp for anticipated texts from a boss or a partner is not so effortless. What precisely results in an increase in the seeking is the 3rd stage: the reward. This reward comes in the form of a dopamine hit we get from digital social interaction, news updates, or even the satisfaction of completing a simple task within the app. Finally, the investment we make is in the form of time, attention, personal data, or contributed content creates a desire to return – this might affect us even as a ‘sunk cost’ – thus perpetuating the cycle. Note how investment causes both app stickiness for the user, and a network effect for the app itself since (in some cases) the content works to attract others. Of these stages, the action or a user’s stimulated behavior to indulge in an app is the most crucial.
The BJ Fogg Behavior Model, which is not named after the deodorant, highlights three key elements that must coincide for the above action behavior to occur: motivation, ability, and trigger. Digital products excel at manipulating these elements to their advantage. The carefully curated content feeds and social interactions on social media platforms provide the impetus to use – it could be in the form of creation of social connections, the relatively straightforward consumption of entertainment, or sometimes for validation of one’s views or opinions. Such “excessive reassurance-seeking behaviors” have also been chronicled in the literature. Here too, ability is facilitated by the seamless design and constant accessibility of these products, making the desired action behavior effortless. Finally, triggers are embedded throughout, be they push notifications that attract or content-curation algorithms that prioritise engagement i.e. reward the content which elicits responses by ranking it higher. The broader techniques used by app-makers further include gamification, persuasive tech such as notifications, or even a quid-pro-quo nudging with small rewards in the app – all seem promising to varying degrees.
While these digital loops can provide a sense of comfort and familiarity, it is important to recognize that they cater to a different form of gratification than any available measures of true, lasting happiness. Psychologists broadly agree that delayed gratification – as opposed to the instant kind produced by apps – is closely and positively associated with human happiness.
The very nature of impermanence built into social media feeds and the constant stream of novel stimuli can work in reverse – creating a sense of dissatisfaction, a yearning for the “next big thing” that may not be satiated, ultimately hindering our ability to both appreciate the present moment and work towards any goals with delayed gratification. Breaking free from the allure of the loop requires conscious, intentional, effort. Recognizing the triggers and employing strategies to disrupt them, such as silencing notifications or setting designated times for checking our phones can be a starting point. Additionally, cultivating alternative habits with a different reward structure, like engaging in hobbies where a skill develops, spending time in nature, or fostering meaningful connections in the real world, all offer a more sustainable path to genuine happiness and personality development to boot.
In conclusion, while digital products exploit our inherent desire for repetition to cultivate user engagement, it’s healthy to remember that true happiness lies beyond the confines of these meticulously crafted loops. By understanding the mechanisms at play and making conscious choices, we can reclaim control of our time, attention, and with a little luck, our happiness. Strange as it may seem, our actions might help us transition from the much-maligned credo ‘I am the product’ to the normal and natural ‘I use the product’.