Top 7 Reasons You're Addicted To BuzzFeed

Why you can't stop clicking on BuzzFeed explained with the help of Santa Clara University Psychology Professor Tom Plante

1. Visuals

Pictures (and gifs and video) make an impression in ways words don't.

The difference between

and...

Facebook: SantaClaraUniversity / Via Santa Clara University

2. Must. Have. Order.

We are pattern seeking creatures so lists and pictures help us connect the dots.

This...

makes you feel like this...

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But this list is perfectly okay...

Via buzzfeed.com

3. Fewer words are easier to understand

We have shorter attention spans. We want instant information and to move on to new things quickly.

How anything more than three sentences makes you feel:

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But add some GIFs:

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4. We choose what we want to see

In psych terms this is called projection. We project our desired wishes and feelings onto stimuli. What you choose to read on BuzzFeed is like a giant inkblot test.

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5. BuzzFeeders very wisely play off our sense of nostalgia

We like relating new things to what we already know and are comfortable with.

Like this...

s-ak.buzzfed.com

or these Silicon Valley artifacts...

media.giphy.com / Via giphy

This...

s3-ec.buzzfed.com

Hope the owner of this one didn't spend too much time waiting for their favorite song to come on the radio to hit play+record at the EXACT same time for the best mix tape.

And even...

6. Being the first to know

We want to proudly let people know we saw the band before they got big... or that a dingelhopper is a fork... or any bit of knowledge that means you're on top of the gossip food chain.

cheezburger.com / Via cheezburger.com

7. And unless you're hipster little mermaid, you can share it all in a never-ending cycle of BuzzFeed goodness

This helps prove that we're special and reinforces a certain degree of narcissism.

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Feel free to give in and share this one!

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