# Professor Adam Alter explains the addictive nature of social media, from his book, "Irresistible"

1 Faculty News May 2, 2017 ![Bloomberg logo](/sites/default/files/styles/246w/public/assets/images/bloomberg192x144.jpg?itok=yV529lwz)>

Excerpt from [Bloomberg](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2017-05-02/why-americans-are-glued-to-their-phones-video) -- "The big thing I think is the sort of uncertain rewards that you get from any interaction with online media. So if you post something, you're wondering whether people will engage, whether they'll reply, whether you'll have likes and comments and shares. Humans find that absolutely addictive. We're fascinated by what other people think of us more than pretty much anything else."

[Read more](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2017-05-02/why-americans-are-glued-to-their-phones-video)