The social media rabbit hole can suck us in. You think you’ll just watch one or two videos, but then an entire hour has passed by! Social media platforms want us to stay on their platform and it works – but why?
Research completed by the Harvard Business Review explored why employees log into social media sites during the workday, even when they have work to do! Employees would be watching videos even when they have a big report or deadline approaching. To change this negative spiral into time on social media, their research found three main takeaways:
- The pull into the “rabbit hole” of social media gets stronger the longer you are on it! They had participants watch either one video or five videos and found that individuals who watched five videos wanted to watch more than participants who only watched one video. You’d think it might be the opposite, but this study suggested the pull of social media is stronger with each video watched.
- The categorization of videos made participants watch more than uncategorized and/or randomized videos. When videos were categorized together, participants were 20% more likely to watch another “related” video.
- Access to social media makes the videos feel “easier” to process, leading participants to believe they will enjoy spending time on social media. In short, access = ease. The Harvard Business Review summarized this point by saying, “People choose to continue down the rabbit hole because viewing related media “feels right” — even if it’s at odds with what they want to be doing, whether that’s getting work done or even just taking a break.” (written by Kaitlin Woolley and Marissa A. Sharif).
Social media is not always a bad thing – some clients find it helpful for wanting a mental break or it can be validating when they see someone going through a similar situation. Social media only becomes a problem when these patterns start to negatively impact your life. If you’re concerned about how much time you spend on social media, then consider adding variety to your content, watching fewer videos per log-in, and making it more challenging to access.
Read more about the research by visiting it directly on The Harvard Business Review website.
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