Every app is trying to become TikTok and it is sadly working for them
I've been thinking a lot about why it's gotten so hard to put my phone down even when I'm using apps that have nothing to do with social media. Two mechanics that, in my view, are driving the growing addiction problem in nearly every app:
Endless feed - Facebook helped normalize the idea that getting the next piece of content should cost almost nothing. No searching, no choosing, no waiting. Just one tiny swipe. That gives us unlimited optionality, or at least the illusion of it. There is always something better one scroll away.
Dopamine loop of uncertainty - Tinder popularized this mechanic with swiping: every swipe carries a small hope of reward. Maybe the next person, the next match, the next hit. Short-form platforms copied the same psychology. Every video starts with a hook, and you never know whether the next one will be funny, shocking, useful, sexy, or emotionally triggering.
That combination is brutal: near-zero friction plus unpredictable reward.
Look at almost any breakout app of the last few years and you'll find the same pattern. Temu turned shopping into a slot machine: infinite product feed, spin-the-wheel coupons, countdown timers. Spotify turned music discovery into a TikTok clone — vertical autoplaying previews on the home screen. Duolingo dressed micro-rewards up as education: streaks, hearts, leagues, guilt-trip notifications. None of these are "social media." All of them use the same playbook.
The problem is no longer just "social media apps." The feed has escaped into everything and they are getting more and more addicting...
