If you’re reading this article on a computer, there’s a pretty good chance that you have Facebook pulled up on another tab. If not, you probably just closed it. There’s something about Facebook that keeps us coming back for more, no matter how crowded and frustrating our news feeds have become. So why can’t we break away?
PREVIOUSLY: It’s never been easier to avoid your most obnoxious friends on Facebook
In a recent interview with Business Insider, Nir Eyal, author of Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products, attempts to explain how Facebook has become part of the daily routine for hundreds of millions of people around the globe.
“I think the main hook is pretty simple,” Eyal tells BI. “What Facebook wants to create an association with is every time you’re bored, every time you have a few minutes. We know that, psychologically speaking, boredom is painful. Whenever you’re feeling bored, whenever you have a few extra minutes, this is a salve for that itch.”
Facebook constantly pesters you with notifications as well. It’s almost a compulsion for some people, making sure that there aren’t any little numbers floating around those icons at the top of the page.
“Eventually you don’t need those,” Eyal says, “because we just start checking those out of habit, but at the beginning we just get triggers from those. The action is as simple as opening the app.”
For the full interview, be sure to click the source link below.
