With our phones and computers glued to our hands, we have all been victims of the infinite scroll; endlessly scrolling on social media apps with new content being available to you with just one swipe. 

Social media apps are formatted to keep you in a loop of limitless consumption of videos and information by allowing you to swipe your finger in one direction instead of clicking buttons or having to switch pages. 

This design is called the “infinite scroll” and was invented by Aza Raskin, co-founder of the Center for Humane Technology and of the Earth Species Project. 

“He wanted to eliminate the user’s need to make another choice he thought they didn’t care about,” an article in Built In wrote. 

This design would transform the way we use the internet, ultimately contributing to the scrolling addiction. 

“One day I was lying on my bed and I was scrolling on TikTok. I just wanted to decompress from school and then I realized that two hours later I was still scrolling,” junior Allyson Campos said. “You don’t notice what happens until it finally clicks in your head.”

Your brain is kept from thinking about the next TikTok, Netflix or Youtube video about to play by automatically playing it for you, which creates a constant loop of content that people get lost in. 

According to Professor Daniel Kruger of the University of Michigan, the methods used by social media companies activate the same brain mechanisms as cocaine.

  However there are a number of ways to pull yourself out of this addictive circle. 

According to Gulf News, limiting the apps that can give you phone notifications, setting a time limit, removing the apps that you feel are most addicting, and being mindful by recognizing the habits that make you scroll mindlessly through these platforms are all ways to take yourself out of the loop. Once you recognize these habits, you can control your urges before acting on them. 

As Aza Raskin stated, he created the infinite scroll to make it easier for people to use the internet and switch between different apps and tabs. If we can prevent ourselves from falling into the trap of addiction that entertainment platforms have made from this design, then we can use the infinite scroll for its original purpose of making our online experience just a little bit easier.