Like taxes and software updates, TikTok is virtually unavoidable in our current world. The social media platform boasts 1 billion monthly active users and 2.6 billion total downloads, making it one of the most popular apps of the past decade. Many users have a love-hate relationship with TikTok: it has wilted our attention spans, sucked away an embarrassing number of hours, and made celebrities out of too many tactless teenagers to count. However, there is a scientific explanation behind the app’s success. 

Essentially, TikTok simulates the addictive qualities of gambling. As you scroll through the “For You” page, there are videos that you enjoy and videos that you don’t, which motivates you to continue scrolling as you search for entertainment. 

According to Dr. Julie Albright, a USC professor and author of Left to Their Own Devices, the psychological term for TikTok’s design is “random reinforcement”. 

“It means sometimes you win, sometimes you lose,” Albright said in an interview with Forbes Magazine. “And that’s how these platforms are designed… they’re exactly like a slot machine.” 

This comparison illustrates just how easy it is to spend hours at a time on TikTok—scrolling is the ideal mechanism for keeping people engaged. Another feature that adds to TikTok’s addictive nature is the way videos replay over and over until the user scrolls. When the user finds a video that catches their attention, they often watch it multiple times. “It’ll just auto-load and you’ll just be in this pleasurable dopamine state, carried away. It’s almost hypnotic… you’ll keep watching and watching,” Albright said. 

Even other social media giants have adopted this specific method of providing content. Regular users of various media apps may have noticed the recent implementation of features like Snapchat’s “Spotlight” and Instagram’s “Reels,” both of which mimic TikTok’s scrolling video function; in fact, both Spotlight and Reels are mostly just TikToks reposted onto other apps. 

Unfortunately, this structure can have a detrimental effect on the brain, especially for young people whose brains are still developing. A recently published study from researchers at the Technical University of Denmark explained why the constantly increasing amount of available information shortens the average attention span. 

“Content is increasing in volume, which exhausts our attention and our urge for ‘newness’ causes us to collectively switch between topics more regularly,” said Philipp Lorenz-Spreen, a researcher who participated in the study. 

TikTok has transformed the way we consume media, but its negative consequences will likely be observable as our generation ages. 

Graphic courtesy of BARK.COM