{
  "id": 7105609,
  "title": "Bizarre New Websites Are Designed Specifically to Spark Dopamine in Your Brain",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/13/bizarre-new-websites-are-designed-specifically-to-spark-dopamine-in",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-13T12:02:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Futurism",
    "slug": "futurism",
    "url": "https://futurism.com/future-society/bizarre-websites-dopamine-brain"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "In a bizarre digital trend, new websites have emerged that are specifically engineered to trigger dopamine release in the brain. These \"dopamine sites\" allow users to engage in window-shopping for non-existent products and services without actually making any purchases. By simulating the entire purchasing experience, including checkout and delivery tracking, these sites offer a unique form of digital entertainment.\n\nOne such site, \"Food Never Arrives,\" developed by Korean student Park Seohyun, lets users order fake food items and estimates the money and calories saved by avoiding real purchases. The concept gained unexpected popularity during a challenging economic period, with people sharing it online and discussing its potential to resist real-world temptations.\n\nFollowing Park's success, other developers have created their own dopamine sites. Microsoft engineer \"FakeHaul\" convincingly imitates shopping on the Chinese platform Temu, while Indian developers Purvansh Parmar and Anshul Sharma launched \"Food Never Comes,\" which not only simulates food deliveries but also provides real recipes for the ordered items. The site has garnered over 2.7 million views since its June launch.\n\nExperts, however, remain skeptical about the potential benefits of these dopamine sites. Yale Center for Customer Insights director Ravi Dhar points out that the excitement of looking forward to an experience can bring pleasure, but users often experience disappointment upon completion. Behavioral economist Lingguo Xu warns that relying on such dopamine triggers can lead to a quick loss of interest and may even result in increased cravings as users simulate consumption.\n\nSome dopamine sites have ventured beyond simulated shopping, even branching into virtual smoking breaks. South Korean developer Ko Seojin created \"Damta World,\" where users can click to light an animated cigarette, watch it burn on the screen, and interact with others through disappearing messages and tracking cigarette butts. With 150,000 monthly visitors, Ko hopes that these online connections may evolve into real-life friendships. However, she emphasizes that she hopes these virtual interactions will be more enduring than the fleeting dopamine hits these websites provide.",
  "summary": "Cutting to the chase of having fun. The post Bizarre New Websites Are Designed Specifically to Spark Dopamine in Your Brain appeared first on Futurism .",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}