Gettin' trophies baby. Is there anything sweeter? Just a small square of pixels with no use beyond bragging rights. But I just can't help myself, I'm on a monthly distance (200 km) streak since March which feels great. Also when there's things like today's special "Global Running Day" badge it's like a randomized pleasure stimulus. I reckon Strava is just a shiny digital Skinner Box with the kudos and the trophies just providing a concentrated dose of positive reinforcement. But I don't rightly care. I'm always looking for my next digital hit but the consequences have all been positive thus far.
It's also not entirely fair to Strava. Every social network is an operant conditioning chamber that's designed to elicit a behavior (posting) in order to receive positive stimulus. Strava has just managed to use these principles to elicit running and cycling behavior. Ain't nothing wrong with that!
I'm not the first person to recognize that social media marketing and the principles of operant conditioning are very similar
Behaviors are elicited and intermittent rewards are given. The connection to social media is readily apparent.
Nor is social media the first or only industry to utilize operant conditioning. Casino games of chance had an intuitive understanding of this long before Skinner was born. Improvements in triggering these atavistic operant attractors explain the persistent addiction of gambling, especially with today's advanced video slots.
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| Negative Space / Pexels |
But back to the original point if you look at an example of four months worth of Strava trophies:
You'll see there's regular rewards (monthly distance, 10K and 1/2 Marathon badge) and intermittent rewards (various promotional challenges) resulting in persistent behavior (doing activities and, most importantly, posting them). This is a hallmark of operant conditioning.
As we see these principles expand in our daily lives it's important to recognize their appeal. We are subject to daily manipulations, both subtle and gross, from dozens of corporate entities through advertising, the internet and the media. Being aware is being forewarned.
