Engagement when done properly is tied back to a meaningful and measurable life (or business) output or outcome. The underlying assumption here is we should be collectively helping each other.
“User engagement” is code for “addiction”
151–160 of 276 posts
Re: “User engagement” is code for “addiction”
#152Earlier quoted context omitted.
Can you provide some reading material about the scientists that get paid millions of dollars to keep you hooked? This is the first time I’ve heard of scientists involved.
Literally any analyst or data science job related to growth or user engagement on social media. https://research.fb.com/category/data-science/
Thanks for the link.
I feel the downvotes were unwarranted. (Not accusing you of Downvoting) Perhaps the user isn't familiar with the industry. I know I'm out of my league with most of the content posted here.
Re: “User engagement” is code for “addiction”
#153I don't like the current trend of social media apps burying users under push notifications, calls to action, and other engagement hooks. However, there's a second, parallel problem adding fuel to the fire: The more we talk about overindulgence in social media (or Netflix, or video games, or fast food) as an act perpetrated by evil corporations on us helpless individuals, the less sense of individual agency we give ou…
> battling this problem is going to require more than simply shaming them in Medium posts. We have to start reminding people that they are in control of their decisions, and that they can take steps to reduce their social media usage to healthy levels. Yes, but that's only going to have a small effect, at best. Just like you can't solve the obesity crisis by telling people to eat less. Things are getting more addicti…
Adam Curtis's century of the self is a good (but long) documentary on the advances in psychology and it's merger with advertising/politics. Worth a watch IMO.
Re: “User engagement” is code for “addiction”
#154Here's an anecdote about what happens when you design a product in the opposite way. I own https://www.executeprogram.com , which has interactive in-browser courses on various software development technologies. Currently they all cover languages, more or less: TypeScript, SQL, various JS topics, regexes. (Disclosure: it costs money after you finish your 16th lesson.) Almost all (maybe literally all) of our competitor…
Ah, that looks really neat! I have a couple minor pieces of feedback after looking at the homepage. The graphic for "Review Exponentially" [1] was a little difficult to grok initially. My first thought was that time was flowing downwards. I think a labeled arrow indicating the flow of time would be helpful, perhaps also a label to indicate that the numbers at the bottom represent days (instead of relying on me to understand that implicitly because one of them is labeled "Day 4: Lesson".
Also in the "Course" section I think you should include a link to "All Courses" because I almost bounced because none of those three courses were interesting to me (but I eventually found the list at the bottom, and SQL is a topic I'm interested in solidifying further).
Lastly I think it would be great to have a sign-up list to be notified of new courses (I do realize that perhaps if you sign up for a free account you _might_ also get information about new courses, but that's doesn't seem fully certain).
[1] https://www.executeprogram.com/images/diagram-lessons-over-t...
Re: “User engagement” is code for “addiction”
#155Yes, a small number of apps have very addictive properties. But those addictive properties occur almost entirely by luck. This idea of app makers as dealers of crack is incredibly self-aggrandizing. It's like someone saying every time they move to new city, they have to register their hands as deadly weapons. Let's take it down a notch, buddy, you're not that powerful. 99% of the time, makers of one addictive app fin…
There are companies that churn out addictive monetization traps masquerading as mobile games like candy.
Re: “User engagement” is code for “addiction”
#156The word “addiction” is overused in my opinion. Bad habits are not addictions. An addiction is something which actively harms you, but you can’t stop doing it. Yes, you can argue social media is harmful, but it generally does not cause people to lose their jobs or spend all their money.
People quit their jobs to become influencers. Others spend all their money on OnlyFans. So yes, it's an addiction. By the way, are you arguing that smoking is not an addiction?
Their definition was generally using the word "harmful" for which smoking clearly qualifies. Losing one's job was just one example how something can be harmful.
The definition of psychiatric disorders includes this kind of requirement. E.g. if you can't sleep more than a couple hours with no apparent negative effects, it's not a sleep disorder. On the other hand if this situation is unbearable for you and you feel you need to sleep more but can't, then you have a sleep disorder.
But yes I'd think this is a pretty loose definition that would include things like social media. Personally I think more is needed. Is that social media addict a depressed person who would just escape from life via an alternative means like by watching TV or something else? If so we should call their problem depression, and call social media simply an "escape" not an addictive behavior.
Re: “User engagement” is code for “addiction”
#157Earlier quoted context omitted.
not only do people in abusive relationships often have stockholm syndrome, many people are actually materially dependent on their partner, for example women who have stayed home a long time historically but also still today, and thus they literally cannot leave. Or they have children, or leaving might put others at risk. Point of working through the analogy being, even on an individual basis framing leaving a relatio…
This is why we need to promote the existence of more and better alternatives. Because "if you don't like it, leave" doesn't work if there is nowhere else to go. But if there is, it does.
Perhaps we need a publicly funded, rather than corporate advertising funded social platform?
Re: “User engagement” is code for “addiction”
#158This kind of semantic game has to stop. If you water down the meaning of "addiction" enough then you can say that anything is "addictive" and with that, you can carry over all the connotations of the word. Then people start saying "I'm addicted to coffee" and "I'm addicted to bread" and before you know it people saying "I'm addicted to heroin" are met with "well, why don't you just stop, like I did with coffee for a…
A lot of apps train people's lizard brains to repeatedly hop on and do simple things for tiny bits of stimulation
"ding" -> pull out phone -> paw at it in a repetitive motion -> satisfying bit of stimulation
I think it's habit forming, and it legitimately crosses into the realm of addiction, just like gambling
Re: “User engagement” is code for “addiction”
#159Here's an anecdote about what happens when you design a product in the opposite way. I own https://www.executeprogram.com , which has interactive in-browser courses on various software development technologies. Currently they all cover languages, more or less: TypeScript, SQL, various JS topics, regexes. (Disclosure: it costs money after you finish your 16th lesson.) Almost all (maybe literally all) of our competitor…
Interesting. I was recently recently reminded about the "Pomodoro" method ("Pomodoro" = 25 minutes on, 5 minutes off, 1 "set" is 4 Pomodoros followed by an additional 30 minute break) - it might be interesting to have a learning platform with a Pomodoro timer baked right into the site.
Re: “User engagement” is code for “addiction”
#160Here's an anecdote about what happens when you design a product in the opposite way. I own https://www.executeprogram.com , which has interactive in-browser courses on various software development technologies. Currently they all cover languages, more or less: TypeScript, SQL, various JS topics, regexes. (Disclosure: it costs money after you finish your 16th lesson.) Almost all (maybe literally all) of our competitor…
Ah, that looks really neat! I have a couple minor pieces of feedback after looking at the homepage. The graphic for "Review Exponentially" [1] was a little difficult to grok initially. My first thought was that time was flowing downwards. I think a labeled arrow indicating the flow of time would be helpful, perhaps also a label to indicate that the numbers at the bottom represent days (instead of relying on me to und…
All good feedback, thanks! An upcoming landing rework will get the first two, and I added "separate sign-up list for new courses" to my queue.