Hooked on Reels

Late night scrolling

I almost didn’t use social media — except for Facebook — until I was around 23.I was never interested.From short glimpses, I didn’t want to dive in.

When I moved to Iceland, I started using Instagram to communicate, and I started watching reels.

They sucked me in — like a vacuum cleaner sucks in dust. I couldn’t take my eyes off it. I was scrolling until 4 a.m., just to wake up, go to work, and repeat.

The first hit

My first interaction with social media was very addictive, and I tried to understand why — once I realized there was a problem.

The most interesting thing I noticed was thatI started talking to people in lines from reels.It was strange.

They were catchy and weirdly accurate to situations.

So I dived in even deeper and tried to figure out:

What makes this so catchy?

Not just ads — something deeper

I might be wrong, but I think most of us have heard about those Google algorithms that listen to every single word we say and serve us ads.

But this feels like something deeper.

Emotional states are being amplified by the algorithm.

Groups of people sharing a similar environmentare being served similar content.And sending each other reels creates this common feeling of

“being understood.”

It becomes a way to connect — using someone else’s words to communicate.

A line I didn’t choose

I caught myself.

While serving one of my friends —
I knew he liked his cappuccino to be a real cappuccino: very foamy, aerated milk.

“I know what kind of man you are.”

That line just came out.
But it wasn’t mine.
It came from a reel. From months ago.
Still in my nervous system — because I used it.

I didn’t like how I felt after saying it.
So I dived even deeper,
to understand what was really happening —especially on a subconscious level.

Autopilot mode behind the bar

Running on autopilot in a coffee shop is really interesting. When there’s a line and people want to be served, there’s this dynamic behind each interaction.

Autopilot mode appears when the movements
are so deeply encrypted in the body that you can do everything without thinking.

No focus is required.

It’s like playing an instrument.
Once the movements are in the fingers,
you can start adding emotion — if you know how to.

Slowing down

So I took a step back and thought:

What kind of emotion did I just put out there?
Instead of letting guilt take over, I chose to reflect.

Yes — it’s catchy.
Yes — it sticks.

But it also asks:
When I speak — is it still me?