Social media platforms also use designs that activate ‘ludic loops’ and ‘variable reinforcement schedules’ in our brains. These are patterns of frequent but irregular rewards that create anticipation, but where the end reward is too unpredictable and fleeting to plan around. This establishes a self-reinforcing cycle of uncertainty, anticipation and feedback. The randomness of a slot machine prevents the player from being able to strategise or plan, so the only way to get a reward is to keep playing.
