Have you ever just wanted to take the day off but for some reason you keep on checking the Flex app tapping away? I know that I have. I’ll tell myself “I’m taking tomorrow off” after I complete a block or two. Then the next day I’m back it. Could the Flex app be affecting us (or just me) psychologically?
Did you know that social media activity can produce dopamine? That’s right folks, getting “Likes” is similar to taking a drug. Well at least that’s what smart professor people are saying. So what’s that got to do with Flex? Maybe there is a correlation to these social media studies and the way the Flex app is set-up. Affecting our brains in the same way social media “Likes” have been show to do.
As the man in the video at the link above was saying, there’s no guarantee that your going to get likes on social media and that’s what makes it addictive. Could it be that all the tapping and scarcity of blocks within the Flex app is having a similar affect?
In my experience I think it might. I always find myself tapping, even when I don’t particularly want to work because I know blocks can be so scarce. I don’t want to miss out on the drops and the money. When I get that green banner saying “You accepted a block” I’m usually pretty pumped about it. Especially after seeing many red “This block has already been taken messages”.
It almost becomes like a competition, and the reward of winning is getting a block and off to work we go. I wonder if it was designed intentionally to have such a psychological affect, or it’s just a coincidence. Either way I consider it really clever and think it might become the way of the future when it comes to getting work.
Psychological uses in marketing is very real, and has been for awhile. Why not use those same techniques to get people to work for you. I can just picture Jeff Bezos maniacally laughing with his figers together like Mr. Burns from The Simpsons.
