5 Ways Social Media Tricks You Into Using Social Media

5. Facebook Mobile's News Feed Notifications

This feature is exclusive to smart phone users with a newer version of the Facebook application, so to explain it for the people who haven't yet bought into the system entirely: Facebook now gives notifications (in the same, probably trademarked, colour of red with a number next to it) based on posts in your newsfeed that you have not read yet. This basically means that if any of your friends (friends in the looser, internet definition) post something to Facebook it treats it the same way as if you had received a personal message or notification that someone has either tagged you in a post or commented on a thread you had already commented on. To go back to Dr. Weinschenk again, Pavlovian cues trigger the dopamine centers in your brain and excite you like you were a hungry dog looking at a juicy steak. She writes, "So when there is a sound when a text message or email arrives, or a visual cue, enhances the addictive effect." Facebook knows that your second cousin posting a passive aggressive status update about how unfair his teacher is it does not necessarily impact you personally, but it also knows that making you aware that there are new posts on their website will force your body to have a response. They have carefully trained all of their users to identify with their brand imagery regarding notifications, so now when they tell you new things appear on your page it feels like those new things are explicitly about you. Aren't you special?