**researchers asked people to post memes and receive likes as feedback on an Instagram-style platform. Just like their analysis of posts, the experiment shows that people posted more often when they received more likes.

The researchers now say social media use appears to be driven by similar principles that lead rats to maximize their food rewards in lab tests like a “Skinner box.” For such an experiment, animals are put in a box where they are dispensed food by completing specific actions like pulling a lever.**