The two fundamental things required for virality are some kind of popularity/ranking system, and some kind of streak system. Often, the ranking system may go hand in hand with the streak system, and may in fact be solely composed of said streak system, to create an extremely addictive product difficult to easily escape. The problem, as you can see, is not keeping users on the platform—no, it’s one significantly harder to solve.

The problem is gaining traction: users will not use the product unless they see their friends using the product—otherwise, there is no value to being highly ranked or maintaining a streak if those they wish to show their popularity find no value in it. Thus, any new platform’s first goal must be to gain traction, which can only be done by wooing users to the new platform with the addition of novel features, and a fair bit of “right-place-right-timism.”

Facebook played this game perfectly. Snap played this game perfectly. Tiktok played this game perfectly.

Who’s next?

Of course, there are innumerable ways this predilection towards gambling—these social media systems tap into the same reward pathways, ensuring a rush of dopamine with every “like,” exploiting our neuroplasticity to rewire itself into our consciousness—can be focused towards more productive avenues for growth.

The gamification of our lives can be positive, helping us quit the same bad habits that they helped install in the first place. I myself am currently working on one such platform that might one day be used to solve the obesity epidemic. At its core, it uses the very same principles—rank and streak—but its effects are far from debilitating.

Only time will tell whether the tides of this war against technology-fueled addiction will turn.