June 18, 2026
10k logged on Strava - ran up & down the road a few more times to get it past the 9.96km mark.
The day after, I was feeling ready to go to the gym, my Apple Watch told me my recovery was low and a rest day was optimal. So instead, I went for a walk - to hit the 10k steps & close the activity ring.
The night after, my Oura ring ran out of battery - one of those nights where I felt I’d slept pretty well and I wanted to see that >90 sleep score. I started to question: is experience the goal - or is it validation?
Social channels and apps have increasingly become systems of behavioural reinforcement - where every moment is tracked, and every choice is influenced. And in the process, everyday behaviours become increasingly performative.
Research shows social media functions as constant feedback loops that shape users' emotional and psychological states. Likes, comments & shares create short-term spikes in self-esteem, and a lack of them does the opposite - triggering feelings of rejection and self-doubt.
So we start to optimise what we do and how we do it - not for enjoyment, but for a response.
The modern day equivalent of: ‘If a tree falls in a forest, but no one heard it, did it still make a sound?’
Thankfully @dz2buku, on Reddit is keeping people in check:
“I don't know. I feel like we shouldn't let an app control our happiness and, in some cases, whether we even do it or not. So many people feel this way. Shouldn't the app going down show us how messed up the thought process of "if it's not on Strava, it didn't happen" is?
You did a 10k, f*ck yeah! Good on you, brother, sincerely.”
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Particularly in the health & lifestyle industry, should it be ingrained in the brand’s strategy to become part of someone’s validation loop? To win, must they be signal worthy, and provide some sort of validation?
It’s clear many brands go by this. They know what their product helps consumers say about themselves.
And they’ve built everything around it: the product, packaging, creator partnerships and their community. If these brands were built for purely personal fulfilment, why is shareability baked so deliberately into the UX?
But are brands winning with good intentions that genuinely support behaviour change - or are they engineering ever more opportunities for short-term validation and dopamine hits? Are brands making updates in line with people’s emotional response potential? Is each algorithm change designed to spark a physiological state?
It's not just consumers chasing the dopamine hit, marketing teams often do the same. Impressions, follower counts, engagement rates - the Strava of the meeting room. Metrics that feel like progress, but don't always tell you whether you're actually going anywhere.
A campaign goes viral. The deck looks great. But did it build the kind of trust that brings someone back in six months?
This isn’t a takedown of validation or tracking culture. I personally see the scores, streaks and rings closing as a way to gamify the process of building and sticking to healthy habits. The question is whether you’re still the one playing, or whether the app is playing you. Take a minute to check in on your ‘why’ - that’s where you’ll find your fulfilment.
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