Week 11

The Pleasure Machine:

This week I explored digital addiction through the idea of "The Pleasure Machine" focusing on Chapter One of Siva Vaidhyanathan's Antisocial Media. Vaidhyanathan argues that platforms like Facebook are intentionally designed to create small, repetitive hits of satisfaction that keep people scrolling. The opening example of passengers obsessively playing Candy Crush on a flight sets the tone, these apps aren't offering deep experiences, just quick bursts of stimulation kind of like gambling. This example made me realize how I often fall into the same patterns without even realizing.

Vaidhyanathan describes how Facebook creates emotional chaos. Opening the News Feed means being hit with a jumble of memories, tragedies, political content, and celebration posts all at once. This emotional overload isn't random, it's the result of an algorithm pushing whatever generates engagement, even if it leaves users anxious or overwhelmed. I have experienced this feeling of being emotionally pulled in every direction while scrolling.

Vaidhyanathan also compares Facebook to a modern Skinner box. The platform uses intermittent rewards such as likes and comments to condition users to return constantly. What really stood out to me is how unpredictable social affirmation becomes part of the hook. Sometimes you get a few comments or even none, and that inconsistency makes the feedback loop even more addictive. I constantly catch myself checking notifications hoping for that same kind of unpredictable validation.

Ultimately it is argued that Facebook's promise of "connection" masks how it manipulates users' emotions, attention, and behavior for profit. The platform's focus on data and engagement turns it into a pleasure machine, relying on small, constant rewards, while ignoring the emotional costs.

This reading made me think about how normalized digital addiction is. Platforms like Facebook don't only respond to what we want, they shape and exploit our desires, turning our emotions and attention into fuel for never ending engagement. It's uncomfortable realizing how normal this feels, even though the design behind it is anything but harmless