Scrolling in the Deep: Analysing Contextual Influences on Intervention Effectiveness during Infinite Scrolling on Social Media

2025-01-21

AI Summary

This study investigates how contextual factors modulate the efficacy of social media usage interventions, particularly under infinite scrolling—a design feature associated with compulsive engagement. Method: We conducted a 7-day field experiment (N=72) integrating contextual logging, temporal analysis of behavioral responses, and valence-labeled affective annotations to capture real-time user states. Contribution/Results: We identify, for the first time, dynamic interactions among home environment, fatigue level, and affective valence in shaping users’ resistance to and response latency toward interventions. Specifically, being at home combined with low affective valence significantly delays intervention response; conversely, elevated fatigue reduces resistance and increases intervention acceptance. These findings inform the “Real-time Context-Aware Intervention” paradigm—a novel framework for personalizing digital health interventions. The study provides both theoretical grounding and empirical validation for context-sensitive behavioral nudges in social media environments.

Technology Category

• Application Domains: Humanities & Computational Social Science
• Cognitive Modeling & Cognitive Systems: Social Cognition And Interaction
• Humans and AI: Intelligent User Interfaces

Application Category

• User Modeling, Personalization and Recommendation: Practical large-scale studies of user experience
• Responsible Web: Human-perceived consequences of algorithmic deployment on the web
• Web Mining and Content Analysis: Content-based information diffusion

Abstract

Infinite scrolling on social media platforms is designed to encourage prolonged engagement, leading users to spend more time than desired, which can provoke negative emotions. Interventions to mitigate infinite scrolling have shown initial success, yet users become desensitized due to the lack of contextual relevance. Understanding how contextual factors influence intervention effectiveness remains underexplored. We conducted a 7-day user study (N=72) investigating how these contextual factors affect users' reactance and responsiveness to interventions during infinite scrolling. Our study revealed an interplay, with contextual factors such as being at home, sleepiness, and valence playing significant roles in the intervention's effectiveness. Low valence coupled with being at home slows down the responsiveness to interventions, and sleepiness lowers reactance towards interventions, increasing user acceptance of the intervention. Overall, our work contributes to a deeper understanding of user responses toward interventions and paves the way for developing more effective interventions during infinite scrolling.

Problem

• Social Media Use
• Behavioral Influence
• Control Measures

Innovation

• Contextual Factors
• Personalized Control Measures
• Social Media Time Management