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“User Engagement” Is Code for “Addiction”

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Re: “User Engagement” Is Code for “Addiction”

#281

Post by Sohcahtoa82 »

Aardwolf wrote: post #26
Ensorceled wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have an actual example website/app that does this “less addictive” thing?

Reddit's redesign. 'Less addictive' for me. I'm sure there must be some target audience for whom this is more addictive, but I'm not the one, I just want to read the comments of the thread I choose myself in peace.

I'm just glad that reddit still offers their old design through old.reddit.com, and that RES can force the old design.

Honestly if reddit ever takes away the old design and a browser extension can't recreate it, my days at reddit would be over. The new design is awful.

Re: “User Engagement” Is Code for “Addiction”

#282

Post by soledades »

rhizome wrote: post #222
thecupisblue wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fixing bullshit left by others, refactoring parts of the machine, copying other apps, working on pointless panels and ideas that will be killed in a hot minute or forgotten about, working on internal tools or mostly - fighting internal political battles to get a promotion/more money/authority/status. Most of the people are not there to innovate but to earn money and status for themselves by working at the big F***K

Every idea is vulnerable to the monster understatedly known as "business rules." If you want to change how these companies operate, how they treat users, or, really, how the company makes money in a user-driven economy, you have to be able to affect "business rules."

> Every idea is vulnerable to the monster understatedly known as "business rules."

Cool take

Re: “User Engagement” Is Code for “Addiction”

#283

Post by kmeisthax »

dleslie wrote: post #195
jsmith45 wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At least fornite cosmetics have limited gameplay impact (although not zero impact). It is quite possible to be a relatively competitive player without spending a single cent (and without needing excessive grinding to do so, or at least, no more grinding than a paying player). This is a lot better than most mobile games (pay more or wait # hours to continue), or games with lootboxes whose results give serious competit…

Ah, but it's a social experience. The primary capital isn't one's competitive standing, it's the uniqueness of your gear. Fortnite's store UI is designed around limited time access panic sales.

Indeed. In fact, we've even spotted kids using "default" as a slur - which is exactly what you design for if you're building a microtransaction slurry game.

Re: “User Engagement” Is Code for “Addiction”

#284

Post by soheil »

So many truism and dogma it's really hard to take this person seriously, why so many upvotes for something that is just conjecture at best:

> it harms our brains in a way that we don’t yet fully understand

He even mentions "we don't yet fully understand" so why keep building on this narrative just to try to prove a point? That should have been the last sentence of this post but I guess that would have made for a pretty mediocre post one that doesn't tap into FUD of the reader.

Re: “User Engagement” Is Code for “Addiction”

#285

Post by wilsocr88 »

notacoward wrote: post #112

Lots of good points here. I particularly like the "dark triad" bit, though I think a lot of nuance around different types of likes/upvotes/whatever is missing. It makes a difference whether those are shown to others and/or used to sort others' feeds. That last point is very close to montenegrohugo's about algorithmic feeds, with which I completely agree. Algorithmic feeds , especially those which show content from pe…

Great points. I suppose, in the end, that social media are like any mind-altering substance. But, it seems to me that we're not fully aware of just how "mind-altering" they really are. There are certain things that are so addictive and damaging that we ban them, because they make people unable to function. That's the conversation, I guess: Where's that line?

Re: “User Engagement” Is Code for “Addiction”

#286

Post by PragmaticPulp »

mdoms wrote: post #210
toto444 wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have moved from using reddit to frequenting a traditional forum where the content is ordered chronologically and that makes an insane difference to the quality of the conversation. You go from the most outrageous at the top to the most discussed at the top. All content gets a chance to be read. Even if it the first user find it uninteresting. On reddit, if what you post gets a downvote very quickly, you're basicall…

It's such a shame that most hobby-related content has moved to Reddit. Because of the way the algorithms work there are no long-running threads and recent content is heavily favoured. This is terrible for hobby boards because it means that content from long-timers gets drowned out by newbies asking the same questions over and over. In my experience hobby subreddits are completely dominated by inexperienced newbies gi…

Some of my hobby forums have seen a resurgence in the past few years now that Reddit has consumed all of the low-effort posters.

Re: “User Engagement” Is Code for “Addiction”

#287

Post by mod »

andomar wrote: post #257
mod wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Normal people can't parse probabilities - otherwise nobody would play in the lottery. Yes, they would. The lottery is about giving up something of little value ($1 or $2) for some entertainment and the chance at a truly life-changing situation. I doubt anyone is unaware there's almost no chance they win, and that they're losing on every dollar they spend. Interestingly, the lottery is occasionally +EV to play. I ot…

> The lottery is about giving up something of little value ($1 or $2) for some entertainment and the chance at a truly life-changing situation Wish that were true. Organizers usually take 90% of the money. Just a tiny percentage is paid out. Like Voltaire said: "Lotteries are a tax on stupidity"

I agree, and I don't see how it contradicts what I said at all.

Re: “User Engagement” Is Code for “Addiction”

#288

Post by toss1 »

>> Relative timestamps (“3 hours ago” instead of “6:56 PM”). This creates IMMEDIACY.

TIL... I've always thought this was SO annoying on Twitter, because I want to see the exact time (I'd even be ok if I could hover and see the actual timestamp), and thought they were just 'dumbing it down'.

But it makes a lot more sense with that clue.

Ugh

Re: “User Engagement” Is Code for “Addiction”

#290

Post by lmm »

kryogen1c wrote: post #118
ethbr0 wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

F2P-with-purchases games should (a) require disclaimers, (b) be illegal and stiffly penalized for allowing minors to play, & (c) have their algorithms open to a gaming regulator (in the same way Las Vegas does).

> F2P-with-purchases this misses the core issue. a game like path of exile is completely playable for free - and they release new content quarterly and yearly (again, for free). a game like Raid Shadow Legends is not - you very rapidly hit a paywall and it would take years of free play to acquire power equivalent to spending $100. the exploitative nature is pay to win, where youre simply playing a different game unle…

There's nothing wrong with an honest pay-to-win game. The dangerous part is the randomness.
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