

‘Once enough information is captured, YouTube will tailor its homepage to offer an endless, infinitely scrolling page with similar videos to those you have watched. These videos are automatically shown to the user, allowing them to sit back and watch without any interaction. ‘Recommendations on similar videos based on the thumbnails and genres users have engaged with, or videos they have added to playlists, are fed to the algorithm. ‘The auto-play feature is what leads you down a YouTube ‘rabbit hole’’, says Thomas. YouTube is the third worst app to use before sleep, thanks to its Autoplay technologyĮver wondered why you can’t just watch one YouTube video? Thomas explains: ‘The app is designed to help keep the user on a conveyor belt of videos, whether that is through its autoplay feature, recommendations or cards used by creators themselves to guide the user through to another video as quickly as possible.’ It gradually loads a skeletal user interface before you see the actual content, which is ‘the jackpot’ of posts, likes and comments.’ 3. Using Instagram has infamously been compared to using a slot machine. Over time, we form a habit of wanting to receive more likes, thus posting more content in order to receive them. They’re one of the main reasons for users to return to the app. This is a main loop that draws users back in and gives that dopamine hit each time likes are received. ‘Instagram, like Facebook, is built on the interactive nature of ‘likes’. What keeps us scrolling through Instagram night-after-night? According to Thomas, it’s all down to the lure of the like: Instagram takes second place, using the lure of likes to keep us awake This makes it even easier to get caught in a seemingly endless engagement loop.’ 2. TikTok’s ‘For You’ page is populated with videos that reflect the content you like to consume once the app learns more about you. When playing, interactive elements and video captions fade into the background, allowing a user to engage solely with that content alone and avoid any other distractions.

Likewise, the videos are the main focus, covering every inch of the screen. Purposely capped, short-burst videos work in a way to keep you engaged longer because they avoid breaking your attention momentum with ads or longer videos. ‘As soon as you open the app, videos are recommended to you instantly and you find yourself in a content loop before you know it. With TikTok, it is designed in a way to prevent that. ‘With the likes of Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, you must first add friends or follow people before you can start seeing their content. ‘TikTok is designed in a way to almost drop you straight into the action as opposed to building up to it.’ Thomas explains. The new kid on the block, TikTok, has already captured our attention and won our hearts - but how? TikTok named as the worst social media app to use before bed Monitoring upvotes and downvotes on your postsġ. Starting to see less relevant or important posts the longer you're in the scrolling loop Top 5 worst social media apps for delaying your sleep App He analysed some of the most popular social media apps to find out just how they keep our attention for so long, ranking each from most to least engaging.
KEEPINGYOUAWAKE APPLICATION SOFTWARE
To find out, we enlisted the help of Thomas Wood, a Senior Designer at software and app development agency KOMODO. We’re all guilty of checking our phones before bedtime, but which social media apps are best at capturing our attention and delaying our sleep? The trendiest social media site on the block, TikTok, takes seventh place with 732,000,000 active users, despite being just five years old! Ranked: The top 5 social media apps that ruin your sleep
