Why Is Everyone on TikTok?

I was given an assignment to analyze a phenomenon I find intriguing for a consumer behavior module in University. The first topic that came to my mind was this: why is the action of scrolling through short-form videos on TikTok so oddly addictive? In this article, I will condense some of my key findings on the behavioral drivers to the exponential growth of TikTok.

As the seventh most used social network in the world, TikTok garnered more than 800 million monthly users worldwide, each of whom spends an average of 50 minutes a day on the app. With about two billion downloads in 150 markets worldwide in 75 languages, TikTok has emerged to rival businesses like Netflix, YouTube and Facebook in just three years of its inception.

The key differentiator of TikTok is it relies entirely on AI. On the “For You” page (homepage of the app), users can scroll through a tailored stream of short-form videos in 15-second format selected for them by an algorithm. Other apps like Facebook, Netflix, Spotify and YouTube only uses AI as a recommendation tool, whereas TikTok lets its algorithm determine which videos to show users and dictate their feed completely.

Many will attribute the success of TikTok to AI, and it undoubtedly plays an instrumental role in making TikTok a successful product. But there are also behavioral factors at play that motivate users to scroll through an average of 200 videos on the “For You” page daily. To understand this phenomenon, we must first learn about operant conditioning and how it can drive this behavior.

Operant Conditioning

The law of effect developed by Edward Thorndike suggests that behavior can be strengthened or weakened depending on its consequences. This means that positive consequences are likely to be repeated. A consequence is a stimulus that follows behavior and it can be anything you perceive with your five senses. In the case of TikTok, consequences are presented in the form of video and songs – visual and auditory stimuli – that follows the behavior of scrolling through the “For You” page.

Reinforcement was introduced by behaviorist B.F. Skinner and it builds on the law of effect. This approach is known as operant conditioning. Based on his findings, when a behavior is followed by reinforcement (or a desirable consequence) the preceding action tends to be repeated or strengthened, whereas unreinforced behavior tends to weaken or be extinguished.

Positive Reinforcement in Operant Conditioning

The addition of a desired consequence after a targeted behavior occurs is known as positive reinforcement. Skinner demonstrated positive reinforcement through the Skinner box experiment. The box contains a lever that will immediately drop food pellets when pushed. After unintentionally knocking on the lever a few times, the rat in a Skinner box quickly learns to push the lever for food. The reinforcement of receiving food ensured that the rat would repeat the action of pushing the lever over and over again.

If you see a funny video while scrolling through TikTok, you will be more likely to keep scrolling until you find an exciting video again. Just like the food pellet, the video stimulates a dopamine response and this process is constantly improved by an algorithm that consistently supplies us with more relevant videos. These rewards are treated in the midbrain with a dopamine hit. TikTok users arrive in anticipation of this positive reinforcement each time they scroll on the “For You” page.

Intermittent Positive Reinforcement

To fully understand this behavior, we should also consider intermittent reinforcement – a foundational type of reinforcement schedule in operant conditioning. In the Skinner box, if no food pellet is supplied immediately after the lever is pushed, the rat will stop pressing the lever after many attempts resulting in the extinction of the behavior. Extinction is the longest amount of time a subject will go on repeating the behavior without reinforcement. Different reinforcement patterns and schedules produce different effects on the speed of learning and extinction.

Skinner found that the variable-ratio reinforcement produces the slowest extinction rate. Variable-ratio schedule is a type of intermittent reinforcement where a behavior is reinforced after a random number of responses. The rat would not know how many lever presses will produce a food pellet (it can take 1, 5 or even 15 presses) but it will learn that the faster it pushes the lever, the sooner it receives the food. This means that variable-ratio schedules also produce a high rate of responding. It is in our nature to be persistent in responding because of the expectation that the next response might be the one needed to receive a reward. This is also why variable-ratio scheduling is often used in gambling.

TikTok provides many exciting videos, but not every single video sent to a user’s “For You” page will be entertaining to them. According to the latest release of TikTok’s algorithm, when new videos are uploaded, the algorithm displays the new video in between recommended videos to a limited number of TikTok users. Hence, it might take 5, 10 or 20 scrolls before a viewer gets to a video that produces positive reinforcement. In other words, whether or not the next video they see on their feed will be reinforcing is unpredictable.

Interestingly, it is observed that the higher the level of unpredictability of a reward, the more dopamine is released in anticipation. Intermittent reinforcement helps us learn causal relationships by releasing dopamine so that we are motivated to pay attention in variable situations and draw causal connections. If the interaction between two stimuli is variable, the brain’s reward center will keep releasing dopamine so that we can work out its connection.

When scrolling on the “For You” page, users cannot predict how many videos they will have to scroll through before they receive another dopamine spike, thus they will keep scrolling in an attempt to experience another dopamine hit. Therefore, the user’s interest is sustained enough to keep scrolling because of the anticipation that they might eventually get the reward of finding an entertaining video. This reward reinforces the behavior as it gives a boost to the pleasure centers of their brains.

Conclusion

Through behavior analysis, it is fascinating to learn how operant conditioning can make the action of scrolling through short-form videos on TikTok so addictive for millions of people worldwide. While reinforcement can bring more entertainment and excitement to the lives of TikTok users, it is also important to remember that consumers are habituated to and dependent on social media apps by behavioral design. Be aware of where you are spending your time and do not let yourself be controlled by the invisible Skinner box.

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