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The 'fuck you' pattern (2021)

cedwards.xyz

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Re: The 'fuck you' pattern (2021)

#5
The reason for this (unjustified IMO) is bot/scraping prevention. On most VPNs you cannot browse profiles unless you're logged in.

TikTok has a much more elegant solution to this problem (while still being a nightmare for bots/scrapers), with ByteDacne moving bot checks to the client with a mixture of proof of work and fingerprinting.

Re: The 'fuck you' pattern (2021)

#6
It's actually not that bad a name for this if you think about the concept of 'fuck you' money, ie. that some people have so much money that 'fuck you' they'll do whatever they want.

Similarly Instagram can only get away with this behavior because of their level of following as a social media platform. So many people use it that people want to use it to follow others, and will consequently put up with this bullshit, and consequently to they can get away with whatever they want because 'fuck you', people will keep coming anyway.

Unfortunate, but not sure what lessons can be taken from it for other players in the market, since (fortunately) few other platforms are in a position to get away with this kind of thing.

Re: The 'fuck you' pattern (2021)

#8
I don’t think this is a dark pattern per se. You don’t expect to walk into any restaurant and get free food. With meta products, you pay for content by being tracked. If you refuse to sign in, they refuse to show you content. It’s simple.

Re: The 'fuck you' pattern (2021)

#9
My fuck-you-right-back response is I don't sign up and give up using the app. I had an instagram account and deleted it years ago. I don't want a new one. Sadly instagram is sign up only, so good luck to them and good bye.
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