Infinite Scroll: The Invention That Changed Social Media Forever

And turned us into dopamine-seeking junkies

Feb 09, 2023

Scrolling and chilling

How long do you spend endlessly scrolling on Netflix to find that ‘one movie or show that you and your partner can watch together before you can start having dinner while your food gets cold’?

Or how long do you spend mindlessly scrolling on your favourite social media platform when you are bored?

Have you noticed that the scroll never ends?

The more you scroll, the more content you get - it’s an infinite scroll.

The internet wasn’t always like that.

But one man changed how social media platforms get us hooked - forever.

This man was Aza Raskin.

(Fun Fact: Aza Raskin was the son of Jef Raskin - who is popularly known as the Father of MacIntosh)

The story of the Infinite Scroll

Back in 2006, Aza Raskin was working on his startup ‘Humanized’ - to design better user interfaces and experiences for people.

He was an interface designer - who wanted to make it easier and more fun for us to use computers and the internet.

One of the biggest problems he had with the internet was ‘pages’ - they were a distraction.

“The problem is every time a user is required to click to the next page, they are pulled from the world of content to the world of navigation: they are no longer thinking about what they are reading (consuming/doing), but about how to get more to read (consume/do). Because it breaks their train of thought and forces them to stop reading (consuming/doing), it gives them the opportunity to leave the site. And a lot of the time, they do.”
“The take away? Don't force the user to ask for more content: just give it to them.”

His solution? The infinite scroll.

According to Aza, the best interface is no interface at all.

A good interface should make it easier for a user to do his/her job (be it reading, writing, watching, etc) - not serve as a distraction or make it difficult.

And the infinite scroll did just that - it provided an elegant tool to help give users a distraction-free interface.

But it came at a huge cost.

Social media turns into a bottomless pit

No one has used (one could also say abused) the infinite scroll more than social media platforms to turn us into addicts - dopamine-seeking junkies.

There are two industries that call their customers 'users' - illegal drugs and software.
-Edward Tufte

(Maybe we need a better term for us ‘users’ or maybe it's just apt)

But how are social media platforms using the infinite scroll to turn us into addicts?

All our beloved social media platforms are designed just like slot machines - which contribute to 70% of an average casino’s earnings (in the US). This means that it works.

The psychological principle on which it works is called a variable reinforcement schedule.

Here’s what it means:

“If you want the behaviour to continue after you stop reinforcing it, you should be more unpredictable in your rewards.”

A slot machine does it with very unpredictable rewards which are just enough to keep the gamblers coming back for more.

And social media platforms do it with infinite scroll - like the pull of a slot machine lever which gives us new content, the more we scroll. Hoping for something interesting to pop up.

Oh and if you thought you’ve curated your feed to make sure you only get what you like. Think again.

“People think that the algorithm is designed to give them what they really want, only it's not. The algorithm is actually trying to find a few rabbit holes that are very powerful. Trying to find which rabbit hole is closest to your interest. And then if you start watching one of those videos, then it will recommend it over and over again.”
- Guillaume Chaslot (Former YouTube Engineer - who worked on YouTube Recommendations)

That’s how social media platforms work.

But that’s not all.

According to a study called ‘Bottomless Bowls: Why Visual Cues of Portion Size May Influence Intake’ - it was found that people tend to eat 73% more when they don’t know how much they’ve eaten. Without feeling satiated.

This is much like the infinite scroll on social media - where we tend to lose any sense of time as we mindlessly scroll through Instagram Reels or LinkedIn posts. Going from one dopamine hit to another.

It’s one of the reasons why most of us often underestimate the amount of time we spent on our devices. And are shocked when we look at the stats.