Transcription
Here’s why your TikTok account is like a slot machine.
I used to be a professional poker player, so I've spent a lot of time in casinos.
Casinos, sadly, make most of their money from slot machines.
They're cleverly designed to take advantage of an addiction method known as intermittent reinforcement, where most of the time it pays out nothing, but occasionally it pays out really big.
It's this unpredictability that has been shown to completely hijack the brain's dopamine reward system.
And TikTok does exactly the same thing.
Their algorithm is designed to just, every now and then, artificially boost your video so that you get a little taste of fame.
They especially do this to new accounts so that users get hooked very early on.
It's actually why I've created this account.
I wanted to test this theory, and lo and behold, one of my videos has just popped off like crazy.
They found the perfect dopamine hack to keep us coming back over and over, which in many ways is worse than casinos.
Because most of the users on here are children.
So just remember, every time you open this app, you're essentially going into a giant digital casino that is designed to addict you and your friends in order to maximize its profits.
Happy scrolling!