The Reality of Infinite Scrolling
Something that all of us can relate to as students is procrastination. For example, you may know the feeling of having weeks to start an assignment and telling yourself you’ll get to it eventually, only to have the due date creep up on you seemingly out of nowhere. You might even know the all too familiar feeling of what inevitably comes after, which is submitting the assignment mere minutes before the deadline. If you’re like me, you may find yourself on social media on the days you planned to work, aimlessly scrolling for hours on end before realizing how much time has truly passed. It becomes easy to feel like you’re falling into a loop and that you can’t really stop, but did you know that this type of behaviour can actually be encouraged by the websites and apps we use? This is often termed “infinite scrolling”, and it was originally built into websites to help improve user accessibility. However, it can also have a myriad of negative effects as well.
Infinite scrolling works in a way in which as the user scrolls to the bottom of the page, more content is automatically loaded for them, ensuring they don’t need to continue clicking through pages (Koss, 2021). This model eventually made its way into most social media apps we can think of (including Facebook, Instagram, and Tiktok) and actually relies upon a mental shortcut (or heuristic) that humans typically use, known as unit bias. People naturally believe that for everything, there is an optimal portion (or unit) and thus for everything we try to consume that amount (physical or otherwise). That’s why when we start scrolling through our favourite apps, we continue to scroll: it feels like we’re trying to get the satisfaction of completing that unit without actually knowing what the unit is. However, since our feeds are never-ending, that unit can never actually be completed.
With that in mind, it becomes a bit easier to see why social media can potentially become addicting. On top of that, the potential likes and comments that we can get when we post can activate the brain’s reward center and make it even more reinforcing. In fact, in this way, social media use has even been likened to a slot machine in the past (McLean Hospital, 2022). A slot machine works on a variable schedule, where it is not easy to predict when we may get a payout or not. This unpredictability is what causes people to continue doing the behaviour, and the same applies to social media. Since we do not know how many likes we may get or when we may get them, we continue to use those apps in the hopes that we will get it this time. Likewise, past studies have also shown that social media overuse and addiction can be related to symptoms such as stress, depression, and reduced academic performance (Hou et al., 2019). Infinite scrolling has also been related to “doomscrolling”, which may have become more relevant to some of us recently. This term refers to continuously scrolling through bad news, and in the same way, feeling as if you are unable to stop.
Knowing all of this, you may be wondering what steps you may be able to take in order to take back control of your time. As with many unwanted behaviours, one of the first steps may be to acknowledge that it is happening. Practicing mindfulness in this way allows you to have more control over it. One potential option is to purposely limit social media use, or even taking a “social media cleanse” in which you abstain from social media use altogether. Something that I personally do is leave my phone in another room when attempting to get work done, as the idea of “out of sight, out of mind” truly does help sometimes! The benefits of limiting social media in this way have been shown before, as a 2020 study had participants abstain from social media for one week and report their feelings after the period had completed. Results showed that participants reported an increase in mental well-being and social connectedness, and a decrease in fear of missing out (Brown & Kuss, 2020).
Now does this mean that social media itself is inherently bad? Of course not! Social media can serve many important functions, and depending on how it is used it can have a positive impact. However as with many things, sometimes moderation is key, and keeping that in mind as we navigate the digital environment can make all the difference.
Sources:
Brown, L., Kuss, D.J. (2020). Fear of Missing Out, Mental Wellbeing, and Social Connectedness: A Seven-Day Social Media Abstinence Trial. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(12), https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17124566
Hou, Y., Xiong, D., Jiang, T., Song, L., & Wang, Q. (2019). Social media addiction: Its impact, mediation, and intervention. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 13(1). https://doi.org/10.5817/CP2019-1-4
Koss, H. (2021, Jan. 7). Infinite Scroll: What is it Good For? Built In. https://builtin.com/ux-design/infinite-scroll
McLean Hospital (2022, Jan. 21). The Social Dilemma: Social Media and your Mental Health. McLean Hospital. https://www.mcleanhospital.org/essential/it-or-not-social-medias-affecting-your-mental-health#:~:text=Social%20media%20has%20a%20reinforcing,%2C%20food%2C%20and%20social%20interaction.
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