Scroll through any social platform today, and you will see it right away: a person dancing in a supermarket aisle or balancing potentially dangerous objects for views, icing themselves for the 10th time in a “new” challenge, or getting stuck in the middle of a challenge and pouring ice water down their throat.
Most laugh, scroll, and even maybe participate. But lurking within the memes and hashtags is something more complex: a finely tuned set of behavioral hooks that maintain focus on the page.
And honestly? Viral challenges aren’t all that dissimilar to the method that video games or online casino systems of PlayAmo Casino Germany use to lure players in or operate slot machines. She’s in a situation different from this one, but her psychology is uncannily the same.
Long ago, the internet learned that there is an interesting formula to the human brain when dopamine, social approval, and uncertainty all converge.
The Viral Challenge Formula: Simple Action, Massive Reward
It’s not the difficulty of a viral challenge that counts. It’s frictionless participation.
The majority of successful challenges are rendered in the following structure:
- extremely simple action;
- immediate social visibility;
- low entry barrier;
- unpredictable reward potential.
The last is primarily important.
A user uploads a challenge video and doesn’t know how many viewers it will get, from 20 to 2 million. The brain responds more strongly to a potential reward than to a certain one, which makes this situation so interesting for creating a dopamine loop.
Such a system is referred to as “variable reward” by neuroscientists. It’s known as intermittent reinforcement to behavioral economists. The common folks say, “After all, maybe this one will blow up.”
This is the same as people refreshing notifications at 2 AM after telling themselves they would go to sleep 1 hour earlier.
Why Humans Copy Other Humans Online
Individuals like to think that they are very rational in the use of the Internet. They are not. None of us is.
Human actions are strongly imbued with social aspects. Historically, it’s been dangerous to be excluded from the tribe, which is why our brains monitor group behavior. This is an old survival mechanism, and it’s just been digitized onto social media platforms.
The brain takes part in the challenge and identifies participation as social validation based on thousands of users doing the same challenge.
“When everybody is doing it, it’s a big deal.”
This is a typical case of social proof and cognitive bias.
Platforms amplify this effect via algorithmic amplification:
- trending labels;
- visible view counts;
- endless reposts;
- engagement metrics;
- influencer participation.
What’s created is actually a digital snowball effect, and popularity is the evidence of the value.
Interestingly, some people face challenges they do not really like. They do it because it is not doing it that causes them psychological discomfort; it’s a sort of modern FOMO put in an entertaining way.
Dopamine Loves Uncertainty
The human brain is very poor at resisting what is promised. The human brain has a terrible tendency to do what it is promised to do.
If it is predictable, it’s boring. Random rewards don’t.
It’s for this reason that folks continually check:
- notifications;
- loot boxes;
- comment sections;
- sports scores;
- live streams;
- trending pages.
Yes, that’s why the gambling mechanic is so compelling.
Slot developers perfectly understand this aspect of slot development. The game’s payout percentages are not the only factors in systems that are based on RTP slots. With no certainty, there is no emotional excitement at all, just winning.
The same behavior pattern was serendipitously (or even quite deliberately) found by social media platforms.
A viral challenge poses uncertainty at every step:
- Will the video be of good quality?
- Will friends react?
- Will strangers approve?
- Will the algorithm propel it even more?
- Will it go viral?
As for any outcome that has yet to be known, it adds anticipation.
Instant Gratification Has Become the Default Setting
The quickest way to do this is to take the shortcuts. The most common way to do this is to take shortcuts.
There is an expectation of immediate emotional responses in digital environments. Digital environments train users to expect immediate emotional response.
Post something.
Get reactions instantly.
Refresh. Repeat.
Users get used to quick emotional thrills rather than gratification.
Viral challenges can flourish and grow within this ecosystem because they offer:
• rapid participation;
• immediate feedback;
• short emotional cycles;
• low cognitive effort.
There’s no need to think deeply about this one! Perform the act and upload, wait for the validation.
It’s a behavior of fast food!
As with fast food, it is effective because “when it comes to efficiency vs discipline, the brain prefers efficiency”.
Algorithms Are Not Neutral Observers
There are still many folks who consider algorithms just “popular content.” In fact, algorithms positively influence behavior.
In essence, platforms are designed to optimize digital engagement, as engagement keeps users on the platform longer. The longer the session, the more of the above.
- Emotions are the most effective, with higher levels of interaction with emotional reactions.
- Fear. Excitement. Curiosity. Shock. Embarrassment. Competitive energy.
- Viral challenges mix several of these feelings, thus attempting to be algorithmically interesting.
The system is a positive reinforcement of emotions.
It’s a vicious cycle:
- users seek attention;
- Algorithms give a reward for emotion.
- creators escalate behavior;
- Audiences normalize escalation.
- Platforms then amplify it.
Within a short period of time, non-threatening dances become more dangerous or trickier because they can elicit more emotional responses and thus more metrics.
