What social media is selling are dopamine hits. Putting out hate and getting people worked up scores you a small dopamine hit. Getting an honest sounding compliment and having a stranger show interest and appreciation in something you are secretly very proud of, gets you an instant massive dopamine hit, followed by more little hits every time you remember the compliment.
So true. In a related tangent, without this, Fox News would have only ever been another shitty cable channel. I’ve been forced to watch it a few times by virtue of being in a place I couldn’t leave, and it’s full of this shit: words or pictures provoking anger, anger, anger, praise, fear, anger, anger, etc.
It’s no wonder the watchers of it can’t get off it: the world must feel very empty if you’ve been on a careening subliminal emotional rollercoaster of media intake for however long.
What social media is selling are dopamine hits. Putting out hate and getting people worked up scores you a small dopamine hit. Getting an honest sounding compliment and having a stranger show interest and appreciation in something you are secretly very proud of, gets you an instant massive dopamine hit, followed by more little hits every time you remember the compliment.
It’s a tough cycle to break out of if you find yourself in it.
So true. In a related tangent, without this, Fox News would have only ever been another shitty cable channel. I’ve been forced to watch it a few times by virtue of being in a place I couldn’t leave, and it’s full of this shit: words or pictures provoking anger, anger, anger, praise, fear, anger, anger, etc.
It’s no wonder the watchers of it can’t get off it: the world must feel very empty if you’ve been on a careening subliminal emotional rollercoaster of media intake for however long.