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Stop big tech from making users behave in ways they don't want to

economist.com

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Re: Stop big tech from making users behave in ways they don't want to

#161

Post by Anthony-G »

shimman wrote: post #39
thinkingtoilet wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's literally what it was. These technologies are addicting. Is it as bad or the same as heroin? No. However, they are designed to be addicting.

Well seeing how we are all granted with one single life, maybe we should be more upset at things that take away our valuable time and replace it with things that make us angry? Who's to say that these things aren't worse than heroin? Lots of people would argue otherwise, I'm becoming one of them myself. Heroin only impacts one individual, social media impacts every connected person on the planet. Mass misery is still…

> Heroin only impacts one individual

I have to disagree with this. Having talked to heroin addicts in the past, I was told that the heroin addiction destroyed their relationship with their families and their friends, causing heart-break in the process (particularly for mothers). They use everyone around them so that they could get their next fix: borrowing, constant cajoling and stealing results in alienating them from everyone in their social circle – other than fellow junkies.

When cut off from family and friends, junkies resort to begging, stealing, street prostitution, shop-lifting and other petty crimes, all of which have a negative effect on their community. Some junkies end up committing violent crimes which has a more destructive effect on society. They often end up in debt to their dealers and commit other crimes at their behest.

All these things are much worse when the junkie is a parent or has others depending on them for a safe and secure family life.

Also, in my country (Ireland), heroin junkies also place a huge burden on the health service. Their chaotic lives result in multiple health issues and they take up a significant portion of hospital beds.

Re: Stop big tech from making users behave in ways they don't want to

#162

Post by arduanika »

noosphr wrote: post #128

I'm so happy the economist is converting this important topic. Now if only the dick heads running this complete rag could listen to the wonderful people who wrote that enlightened piece and let users unsubscribe: https://www.reddit.com/r/assholedesign/comments/rli0u9/how_t...

It's educating you about economics, exactly as advertised, what's the problem?

Re: Stop big tech from making users behave in ways they don't want to

#163

Post by Seattle3503 »

octoberfranklin wrote: post #147
Seattle3503 wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You create an agency and give it a mandate that requires it to balance concerns.

This answer can be applied to pretty much any social question. If it were so easy, we'd do this all the time. We already do it a lot, and there are heaps of examples where it goes wrong.

And examples where it goes right. Federal reserve, FDA, SEC, etc..

Re: Stop big tech from making users behave in ways they don't want to

#164

Post by prawn »

beloch wrote: post #154

How much time you spend on something has become a metric of success in both gaming and social media. I occasionally play a perpetually-in-alpha AAA+ game (I won't name it to avoid the flames) that recently asked users to fill out a questionnaire. At no point did it ask how they could make my time spent in the game more fun or awesome. They did explicitly ask, "What can we do to make you spend more time in game?". The…

I try to explain to my young teenage son what he misses by playing a near-perpetual game like Fortnite. In the years that he might spend in that, my equivalent time was put into dozens of games across various categories, and memorable levels, stories and moments.

I miss those days where the measure of success was having someone play the game at all and enjoy it, not how long they might be locked into your product to the detriment of anything else in life.

One tactic against Fortnite has been to say "Yes, you can play on the console this evening, but not Fortnite and instead choose from one of these games." That at least encouraged him to play through Horizon Zero Dawn, as an example.

Re: Stop big tech from making users behave in ways they don't want to

#165

Post by nsagent »

beloch wrote: post #154

How much time you spend on something has become a metric of success in both gaming and social media. I occasionally play a perpetually-in-alpha AAA+ game (I won't name it to avoid the flames) that recently asked users to fill out a questionnaire. At no point did it ask how they could make my time spent in the game more fun or awesome. They did explicitly ask, "What can we do to make you spend more time in game?". The…

I learned that lesson nearly two decades ago when I first started as a game dev straight out of school. I had much less free time and began appreciating shorter games with focused experiences that ended relatively quickly (6-8 hrs). This allowed me to experience more variety.

Unfortunately, games keep getting longer and longer with more and more filler. The problem is that many gamers complain loudly when games are short. There are comparatively few games that buck the trend. Now, I play very few games as a result.

Re: Stop big tech from making users behave in ways they don't want to

#166

Post by siliconc0w »

On one hand, this is insidious when targeting children.... On the other these kind of metrics are what pretty much every company tries to optimize.

We're going to get better and better at hacking the human brain - for good and evil and we're going to have to trade some free will and personal liberty to really keep the worst of it in check. The dark pattern bullshit is the easiest thing to regulate but I don't have a lot of hope for even that.

Re: Stop big tech from making users behave in ways they don't want to

#167

Post by adi_kurian »

colechristensen wrote: post #7
ViktorRay wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

100 years from now the descendants of the engineers who work at Big Tech will be looked upon by their descendants with the same shame that people nowadays look at ancestors who were involved in tobacco.

>people nowadays look at ancestors who were involved in tobacco Huh? Does anyone actually care any more? The kind of moralizing busybodies that spend their time shaming the tobacco industry are few and far between.

As someone who had a brief stint consulting for Big Tobacco, I can assure you that people care a lot.

RJ Reynolds does not have their pick of the most elite graduates. Most of them would be ashamed to tell their friends and family, no matter the salary.

Re: Stop big tech from making users behave in ways they don't want to

#170

Post by oldmanhorton »

advisedwang wrote: post #126
dd8601fn wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This reminds me of the TikTok ban that lasted all of twelve seconds. I’ve been using the internet for longer than I care to admit, and I’ve never seen anything like it. It was like 300 million junkies all lost their drug supplier at the same time.

> the TikTok ban that lasted all of twelve seconds The TikTok ban successfully forced the sale of the US TikTok operations. I wouldn't be so dismissive of it.

A year and a half later? Does that really count?
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