How the little green dot on Medium became a symbol for me of learning opportunities and motivational incentives
I also post our articles on Medium, a social publishing platform, and the first time that I saw a little green dot appear on the bell icon of the Medium app that alerts me of new messages I thought, “Oh boy, I bet I will be checking that little green dopamine ‘agonist’ more often than I should.”
As if to confirm my prediction, last week, while I was sitting behind my desk pondering what to write about for my next Medium article, and feeling a bit uninspired, I noticed that I repeatedly migrated back to the bell icon, looking for my little green friend, only a minute or so after my last check. “Hmmm … still no green dot,” I mused. Later that day, as I reflected on my behavior and my mental state, I realized that I had been looking for a little incentive to kickstart my creative process.
This search for motivation brought me back to the years I spent writing Mastering Mentalization, which turned out to be a massive project. The writing process felt lonely at times, at least until the book was finally ready for review and editing. From that point onward, it became a shared undertaking with my favorite editor and a couple of wonderful proofreaders. I no longer felt any need to search for external motivational incentives to complete the project. Medium represents a totally different experience for me. I don’t feel so isolated, thanks in no small part to the little green dot that instantly connects me with readers who encourage my writing endeavors, offer me advice, share a different perspective, clap, or begin following my posts.
Not that following the little green dot always leads me to a message that reinforces the creative process. Like most if not all writers, I occasionally receive a comment from someone whom I have unwittingly and unintentionally offended. It seems that such readers desperately need to share their hurt in an attempt to make me feel as bad as they do, or even worse. As the saying goes “hurt people hurt people.” Somehow it makes them feel better, I guess. I simply conclude that their reaction says more about their state of mind as a reader than anything about mine as the author. I have to admit that when this happens, I feel a little cheated by the “false promise” of the little green dot, even though I am fully aware of the fact that all types of feedback, whether positive or negative, are part and parcel of putting yourself out there on Medium.
During my psychological ruminations about the little green dot, I wondered what other Medium writers had to say about it. It turns out that there is indeed no shortage of articles on the subject. For me, the little green dot has become symbolic of learning opportunities and motivational incentives.
As I searched for a catalyst to jumpstart my creativity, I started to contemplate the office where I do most of my writing. I compared my office space to an operant conditioning chamber, more commonly known as a Skinner Box. While he was a graduate student at Harvard, B.F. Skinner invented an apparatus that could be used to study the process of operant and classical conditioning in a controlled environment. (1)
There are different configurations of the Skinner box, but in general it is an enclosed chamber with a lever that a lab animal can manipulate to receive a reward for (e.g., a food pellet), and reinforcement of, a desired behavior.
Researchers used the Skinner Box to determine which reinforcement schedule would lead to the highest rate of response in the test subject. Imagining my writing space as an operant conditioning chamber, I visualized myself as one of Skinner’s research subjects whose writing and publishing behavior, including pressing the little green dot, were being studied. Skinner, himself, might very well have reported the following:
As the little green dot had no meaning to the research subject when it first appeared on her screen, it initially had no effect on her. As soon as she understood, however, that it was the gateway to reader feedback, things became more interesting.
When she found that tapping on the little green dot led her to encouraging messages from readers, she instantly connected positive feelings to the appearance of the dot on the screen, as clearly indicated by her nonverbal behavior.
Because this association came about involuntarily, we can assume that she is now conditioned in the classical way. She connects the little green dot with a positive feeling, and there’s little she can do about it.
Additionally, because the positive feedback from readers is the consequence of the article that she wrote, she is conditioned in the operant way. She has found an important reason to keep writing articles. From now on, this type of conditioning will work as an important reinforcer of her continued motivation to take her place behind the desk, time after time, to start writing.
The fact that I find myself checking for the little green dot more often than I should finds its cause in the schedule of reinforcement. In this case, the reward schedule is partial (or intermittent), since the response (looking for, and clicking on, the little green dot) is reinforced with positive feedback only part of the time.
Learned behaviors are acquired more slowly with partial reinforcement, but the response is more resistant to extinction. In other words, we have no certainty about the appearance of the green dot and/or the message behind it. We don’t know if or when the green dot will appear, and if it does, whether the message it represents will be rewarding.
There are times when we receive a message from someone who is trying to hurt us, not caring (or conveniently forgetting) that we are simply fellow human beings trying to make our way through life. These messages can cause us to lose the motivating benefit of our operant conditioning. A steady diet of negative reader responses can lead to elevated serotonin levels (increasing our avoidance tendencies), while at the same time reducing dopamine levels (decreasing our approach tendencies). This interplay between dopaminergic and serotonergic neuromodulation can make us feel like we shouldn’t continue to write anymore as it presents a “danger.” (2)
On the other hand, if we are able to turn negative feedback into a positive experience, for instance, by finding better ways to deal with the criticism of our detractors, then the little green dot, and the encouraging message it portends, will not lose their incentive effect. Furthermore, when we continue to write and publish new articles, we will get a bigger kick than ever out of the next positive message that we receive. Due to the uncertainty aspect of our readers’ reactions, we will experience dopamine levels that are even more elevated than would be the case if we receive nothing but positive messages. Receiving positive messages also reduces our serotonin levels, which lowers the threat we feel when we reach to hit the “Publish” button.
The role of dopamine and serotonin in modulating goal-directed behavior is of course more complex, but you get the idea. Our reward system exists to help us to determine whether a stimulus or behavior should be avoided or approached. It is at the center of our learning process, and it helps us to become the best version of ourselves. So, after a malicious message, just breathe and know that the little green dot will once again become a harbinger of good news.
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