Undercover Strategies Employed by Social Media Platforms, Mirroring Traditional Casino Tactics
In the digital age, it's no secret that social media platforms and casinos share a common goal: to keep users engaged. While the methods may differ, both industries have been leveraging psychological principles to achieve this goal.
Casinos, for instance, offer reward programs that grant points for the hours played and money spent. These points can be redeemed for prizes, food, or free play vouchers, creating a sense of accomplishment and anticipation. Similarly, social media platforms use intermittent rewards, such as unpredictable notifications, likes, or new content, to trigger dopamine responses, much like slot machine wins.
Personalized algorithms on social media platforms analyse user behaviour to deliver highly relevant posts, ads, or challenges, increasing time spent and repeated usage. This mirrors the casino's use of magnetic cards, which have been tracking data about what games users play, the size of their bets, and what kind of bonus incentives are effective at keeping them playing since 1985.
Social validation, through likes, comments, and shares, creates feedback loops that encourage users to post more and stay engaged. This is reminiscent of the casino's VIP rooms, reserved for the top-tier players.
Facebook games like Zynga Poker or Big Fish Casino show online casinos what social integration in their own platforms could look like in the future. Meanwhile, social media platforms are looking to casinos for pointers on how to keep users engaged and entranced.
The casino industry has been a pioneer in designing facilities to keep guests playing longer, and companies invest millions of dollars in research to make devices and products more engaging. This intentional design, rooted in behavioural psychology, aims to maximise user retention and monetization by exploiting similar neural pathways that make gambling addictive.
While direct references to social media platforms using casino tactics specifically were not found in the search results, the parallels between the two industries are striking. The gamification of slots in casinos has turned them into the casino industry's main breadwinner, with up to 80% of casinos' revenue coming from slots compared to less than 50% in the 1970s.
In the digital world, the average adult checks their phone over 80 times a day. The majority of users are not bothered by their information being harvested and sold to marketing companies, as long as their user experience remains pleasurable. Social media platforms track users' behaviour and display targeted ads, such as the same product a user was shopping for online.
Gamification is a concept used by many successful game apps and social media platforms to give users a greater purpose for engaging, such as offering rewards, status, and privileges. Several gambling-related organisations have invested in mobile gaming companies that can tie into popular social media platforms to attract new players.
As we delve deeper into the digital realm, it's clear that the lines between social media and gambling are becoming increasingly blurred. Whether it's the pursuit of rewards, the allure of uncertainty, or the desire for social validation, both industries are tapping into our basic human desires to keep us coming back for more.
Social media and online casinos are both leveraging technology to entice users by offering rewards, such as points or badges, emulating the casino's reward programs. These platforms also employ gamification techniques, like unpredictable notifications or personalized content, mirroring the casino's intermittent rewards. Furthermore, the casino industry's engagement strategies, like tracking user behavior and delivering targeted ads, may influence the future tactics of social media platforms.
