Where the Four Hours Went — How social media keeps you scrolling (and who gets paid)

Apps are designed to keep you scrolling: feeds with no end, videos that autoplay, streaks you are afraid to lose, fake countdown timers, and notifications that arrive exactly when you try to put the phone down — and somebody earns money from every extra minute you stay. This lesson shows you how those tricks work, what they are called, and how to spot one coming, by replaying a single night inside one boy's phone. Sam picked it up at 19:12 to set an alarm. He looked up at 23:40, and the birthday present he had been saving for was gone. It is not stupidity. It is design.