Why Are We Addicted To Information?
I think this a very interesting question in how it relates to the value within social networks. People are addicted to some particular form of information that is contained within the network. The network allows access to that information to quickly aggregate from multiple sources. This addiction gives the network value and the network feeds the addiction. This all makes sense. But why do we get hooked to this information in the first place?
The scientific answer to this question is relatively straightforward. The brain is rewarded with dopamine when it finds pieces of information. Through natural selection, those animals who had brains that rewarded information collection (via dopamine) survived more than their counterparts. Having information is useful in decision making and planning. Both important tools in trying to survive.
But checking Facebook every five minutes is not increasing one's odds of survival. And why not just pick up a book? That has a lot of information as well. Unfortunately for books, they are not a natural medium of information delivery. Our brains are hardwired to work through our eyes, so media with a variety of pictures, colors, and other visual stimuli would have been deemed more useful information prior to the formation of society.
But not all information on social media platforms is relevant to a particular user. In fact most information is relatively useless. The last time I used Facebook, I thought that the information I was looking at was useless. But the last time I used Facebook was a few hours ago. I've been on Facebook three times today.
Social Media is interesting in how it displays information to the user. Social interactions between human beings are very important and information is important in keeping those relationships alive. Such information about people we care about is relevant information. This was the information that at one time impacted our survival. So as long as this information is present in social feeds, you can push as much trash as you want, because our dopamine-hungry brains will play the information slot machine until it wins.
But most social networks are designed like this. So they can get your attention and shove ads or other useless information in your face. They make money off your exposure to advertisements. They use your dopamine against you. Very clever. They also get your information for free as you try to establish yourself in digital society. Double win.
So we are we addicted to information? We seek out information that is relevant to us as human beings to get that sweet dopamine rush. And we're willing to play the slots in order to get that information. We are really addicted to relevant information but are stuck mining for it on social media platforms. That's why we waste so much time there.
But why bring this up? The value of social networks in their ability to grab onto the attention of consumers of their content and then leverage users of the platform to provide that content for them. With Steemit, users are providing content for other users and hoping to leverage those other users for money. But the problem is that the content lacks relevant information that make other platforms more addicting.
I will say I'm addicted to the Steemit blockchain but not the content on top of it. The social experiment is fascinating and interacting with users to develop ideas and build community is filled with useful and relevant information to me finding a place within a digital society. But I have no such connection with a lot of the content on this site. A lot of the humanity in posts is lacking and that's a sad thing.
Maybe we're all a bunch of sociopaths who have lost our humanity, but in the few discussions I have had on the platform and the discussions I have had off the platform, I don't think that is it. But I do think that the money is corrupting the information that is being presented. There is an expectation to behave differently than those other platforms. Which is odd for a social network.
I look forward to potential future social interactions with you whether in this post or other posts anyone may write I find interesting. Comments are the most socially intriguing part of the platform yet are one of the least utilized aspects of it. And that's a real shame. In the meanwhile I'll probably be on Twitter or Reddit trying to satisfy my craving for dopamine.