TikTok and Instagram – The autoplay trick – why we stay longer on social media – News


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Videos play automatically on TikTok and Instagram. Is that why we get stuck on these platforms for longer and longer?

Anyone who opens the TikTok app wants to watch videos. And to watch videos on TikTok, all you have to do is open the app – the content starts playing without pressing a button. The same now on Instagram: If you go to the “Reels” function there, you will see videos that start playing without you having to do anything.

This mechanism is called “autoplay” and it is not without controversy: “The topic has always been a thorn in the side of UX,” says UX, i.e. user experience, expert Michael Richter. This violates an important usability principle: controllability. “This means that we as users want to control the technology and not the other way around,” says Richter.

Autoplay is intended to bind users to the platform

Anyone who opens an app like TikTok or Instagram does so for a specific reason – boredom, for example. The next step is usually an action to satisfy the need – i.e. pressing the play button on a video. Autoplay relieves you of this action and in a second round also the reason to stay in the app: Because the content is already playing there anyway, you just watch a little longer – and even longer, and even longer…

It’s worth it for the platforms: “Autoplay should encourage users to spend more time on the platform, leave more data, consume more advertising and thus generate sales,” believes the psychologist Andreas Sonderegger, who deals with technology design and user experience deals.

Autoplay is mandatory for Instagram and TikTok

The autoplay function is not only found on TikTok or Instagram: Depending on the setting, YouTube also allows one video to be followed directly by the next. And the video streaming platform Netflix also plays the following episode immediately after the end of a series episode and lets preview videos play on the overview page without human intervention. However, the autoplay function can also be deactivated on YouTube and Netflix – in contrast to TikTok and Instagram.

Autoplay is not only viewed critically by design experts, the mechanism is also not popular with many users. But apps, platforms and websites can not only retain their audience for longer, they can also increase their own access numbers. Because a video is often counted as watched, even if it only lasted a few seconds. And because the first few seconds of a video are often filled with advertising, advertising revenue also increases.

It only helps self-control

In the United States, Republican Senator Josh Hawley has introduced the SMART Act, a bill “to curb addictive and fraudulent techniques used by tech giants to exploit users”. The autoplay function is one of the techniques that should be made impossible. There are also corresponding political initiatives in Great Britain.

However, as long as autoplay remains in use and finds its way into more and more platforms and apps, users will have to control their online behavior themselves. If you find this difficult or don’t want your children to fall into the autoplay trap, you can set time limits for individual apps or smartphone use in the smartphone settings.

SRF 3, September 22, 2022, 4:40 p.m

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