What Twitter and slot machines have in common
Eric Goldstein says:
i suppose that just like the spins of a slot machine, most of our tweets come up blank (no response, no retweet, etc.). But just often enough we get a little bit of feedback and maybe just maybe we occasionally come up with 3 cherries! And, of course, just like sitting in a casino, it often seems like other people are winning. I suppose Twitter works like that too…we all watch as other people get @replies and retweets just like watching people at the nearby slots who seem to have better luck that us. strictly from a psychological standpoint, it seems plausible that twitter may have much in common with casinos.
One of Skinner’s most important discoveries is that behavior reinforced intermittently (as opposed to consistently) is the most difficult to extinguish. In other words, intermittent rewards beat predictable rewards. It’s the basis of most animal training, but applies to humans as well… which is why slot machines are so appealing, and one needn’t be addicted to feel it.
You are not sure you are going to get a reward every time or how often you will, so you keep pulling that handle.”Read more at headrush.typepad.com
