Product designers and investors in the modern tech world love to discuss how social media companies leverage our drive for dopamine hits to ensure long term engagement. WebMD has articles about the impacts of Doomscrolling (seriously – we agreed for that to be one word?) and medical professionals question the impact of social media on people with ADHD.
On one hand, it seems natural that companies and product designers would want to create the most engaging experience for their users. On the other hand, this kind of positive feedback of dopamine micro-dosing is being called out for “destroying how society works”.
Shockingly, this very behavioral characteristic doesn’t seem to have a clear cut name yet. Or at least not one that I’ve heard of, and so by the rules of internet debate, it must not exist.
I’d like to propose a new term, and I’d appreciate your help in getting this added to the Merriam Webster dictionary as soon as possible:
dopamining (do·​pa·min·​ing)
- Pursuing dopamine hits through repetitive behavior such as doomscrolling.
- Creating content intended to generate audience or revenue based on the desire for dopamine. alt. Creating content that you hope will provide the dopamine hit to an audience and cause them to engage.
So when you (or your trusty Generative AI business partner) are cranking out material, you can ask yourself, am I building something of value, or am I just dopamining?
DeMar.is 
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