Why Infinite-Scrolling in Mobile Apps is Destroying Content Consumption

Down-voter, can you articulate your objection?

Your facebook and twitter feeds aren't infinite, you subscribe to a limited number of other users. All the twitter clients that don't suck will show you your twitter feed starting from where you left off. When reading, you scroll towards the most recent tweeets, which is where your feed ends.

Obviously, as it is a live feed, it doesn't "end", but if your feed doesn't grow faster than you consume it, you will complete reading it in the same sense you complete reading your email inbox. It's a personal preference if you treat twitter like an email inbox (read everything) or like daytime tv/elevator music (a never ending stream of noise).

If you start browsing random tags on flickr, or randomly stumble through global twitter feeds of infinite depth, that is no difference from the streams of tv or radio that existed before too.

Really appreciate the commentary HN. I'm just getting started with Elevator (apologies for the still-in-progress site with a terrible Wordpress theme). Follow @thisiselevator for more.

I think it's interesting Yahoo are attempting to address this with their News Digest app, following their acquisition of Summly. Founder Nick D'Aloisio said in a recent interview (can't find the link right now) that development of News Digest was lead by the idea that a physical newspaper or magazine has a very clear beginning and end, and that by reaching the end the reader could feel satisfaction.

What's worse, you're not even able to "replay" a whole night in a moderate Twitter feed.

Simply put, I follow ~30 medium-activity accounts, I go to bed and when I wake up, I can't reach the same point in the timeline again as over 800 tweets have been posted.

Please, for heavens sake, allow the addicted to read their whole timeline. Thanks.