Weapons of Mass Distraction and Addiction by Design: What Techniques Do Social Media Operators Use to Increase User Engagement?

Over the past decade, social media use has become widespread in many countries. Despite its many benefits, social media use can become problematic for a minority of individuals. There are many factors that are involved in the acquisition, development and maintenance of such use and some of these factors are deliberately designed into social media products to facilitate continuous use. Developers use game design elements based on psychological mechanisms such as operant conditioning that foster p