Blogpost written by Yasa Defne and Duc Tung Luu
Key Points:
- Social media platforms use design and algorithms to create habits that unnoticeably influence our behavior and use of time.
- These habits can help us to stay in touch with others, but they can also lead to us paying less attention to ourselves – and this can affect our well-being.
- A conscious approach to social media helps to recognize and adapt these habits to promote a healthier relationship with technology.
Have you ever wondered why you lose track of time while scrolling through TikTok, Instagram, or Snapchat? What starts as a quick glance often turns into an unnoticed hour. This isn’t by accident—behind our behavior on social media are sophisticated mechanisms that shape our actions without us realizing it. In this blog post, we’ll explore how our social media habits form and the positive and negative effects on our lives, drawing on insights from the study „Building and Breaking Social Media Habits“ by Joseph B. Bayer, Ian A. Anderson, and Robert S. Tokunaga.
How do social media habits develop?
Social media habits are the routines we unconsciously repeat every time we open an app, scroll, like, or share. These actions follow patterns that are shaped by platform interfaces and algorithms. Algorithms analyze our preferences and usage habits to provide targeted content that captures our attention – be it through personalized recommendations, endless feeds or notifications that keep us coming back.
These habits are important because they influence our decisions, our productivity and even our wellbeing. Research shows that social media use is not just a leisure activity, but often becomes an automated routine that shapes our daily lives and time management. Consciously or unconsciously, habits often cause us to spend much more time on social media than originally planned, which in turn can affect our personal quality of life.
The five levels of social media habits
The study divides social media habits into five levels that show how deep and structured these behavior patterns are. These levels cover different factors that influence our behavior on social media. To better explain these levels, we use the example of liking a funny TikTok video:
- Platform – Each platform influences our interactions in different ways. On TikTok, a new video appears as soon as you swipe up, which encourages you to keep watching and see more and more videos – including the funny video you just liked.
- Device – The device plays a role in how we use social media. With a smartphone, for example, you open TikTok while waiting for the bus. You scroll through funny videos in short intervals, while on a computer you stay longer and interact more intensively.
- Interface – The design of the app influences how we interact with it. On TikTok, the funny video plays directly and the “Like” and “Share” buttons are clearly visible, making it easy for you to like or share without much thought.
- Behavior – This is about our interactions such as liking, commenting or sharing. If you see a funny video and like or share it, you may get other similar videos suggested to you. The social validation you get from the likes and shares reinforces the behavior.
- Motor – Motor habits are about physical movements such as swiping or tapping. When watching the TikTok video, you will instinctively swipe up to see the next video without thinking about it. These movements become habitual over time.
These levels intertwine and lead to social media becoming a daily routine – without us consciously realizing it.
Spiraling out of control
Now that we can know what constitutes a social media habit, we can begin to understand how they interact with each other.
Fig. 1 Social media habit spiral
Habit formation involves repeatable patterns of context, cue, and response. For example, being home on a Saturday night (context) may trigger feelings of loneliness (cue) and lead to checking your phone for notifications (response). If rewarded with new notifications, this reinforces the habit. If not, you might check another app, potentially spiraling into automaticity – a “mental autopilot” where behaviors become reflexive. These habits can unknowingly eat up our time and distract us from our goals.
Finding the balance
That’s not to say that social media is all negative – it also has the potential to enrich our lives. They help us stay in touch with loved ones, find support in difficult times and discover opportunities for self-expression and further education. The key is to create balance.
How can we take back control?
For social media to do us more good than harm, it’s important to recognize how platform designs influence our habits. Small steps can go a long way:
- Check your screen time. This will help you understand how much time you spend and recognize patterns.
- Set yourself clear intentions. Think about what you want to achieve before opening an app. Do you want to exchange ideas with friends, find inspiration or learn something new?
- Use app tools. Features such as time limiters can help set boundaries and better control your usage.
With these measures, we can ensure that our time and energy are aligned with our personal goals, rather than being dictated by endless scrolling.
The big picture
Social media habits have the potential to impact our lives both positively and negatively. The good news? It’s up to us how we use these technologies. A conscious approach to social media can improve our wellbeing and promote a healthier relationship with technology. Remember: habits are not fixed. They can be changed.
Have you rethought your social media habits today?
References
Bayer, J. B., Anderson, I. A., & Tokunaga, R. S. (2022). Building and breaking social media habits. Current Opinion in Psychology, 45, 101303. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2022.101303