Thought that’s been lurking in my subconscious for a few months now.
While there is merit to the “addictive social media UX” campaign/program of and others, there is also a danger that it might inadvertently trigger the digital equivalent to the war on drugs 1/2
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Just because some deliberately pursue dark pattern addictive design doesn’t mean they’re solely or even primarily responsible. Vultures eat carrion.
The enabling factor is alienation/isolation. Cf Cat Person.
That will manifest *no matter how well-intentioned the design* 2/2
yes. the moral weakness isn't in the individual desperate for connection, it's in the largely purposeful systems that create their loneliness.
One obvious sign that nobody seems to talk about is that the epicenter of this stuff is neither Facebook, nor Twitter. It’s 4chan, which doesn’t even pretend to have lofty social goals. It’s pure shitposting dopamine for the alienated.
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If I get what you’re saying, what would it look like to try to intervene closer to the root cause of alienation/isolation?
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It’s isomorphic to both the inequality and automation-ate-my-job problems. So whatever it takes to solve those.
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Agreed. Alienation/isolation seems to be behind a lot.



