Why Infinite-Scrolling in Mobile Apps is Destroying Content Consumption
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Why Infinite-Scrolling in Mobile Apps is Destroying Content Consumption
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Re: Why Infinite-Scrolling in Mobile Apps is Destroying Content Consumption
#2Ugh, also I hate infinite scrolling when it crashes and makes me reload the page. Like on Facebook I would scroll down and down up to posts from months ago, then it would crash on me, or I accidentally click on some link, which brings me back all the way to the top when I try to get back on it.
Re: Why Infinite-Scrolling in Mobile Apps is Destroying Content Consumption
#3"There is no reason why Facebook, Instagram or Twitter can’t algorithmically determine which, say 20 posts are important to us, and give the option to only view those."
What could possibly go wrong?
Re: Why Infinite-Scrolling in Mobile Apps is Destroying Content Consumption
#4The author postulates that infinite content scrolling in mobile apps causes "dissatisfaction" and "intellectual bloat" for the user, and concludes that developers should limit content.
An alternative explanation might focus on when and how discipline and self-restraint should be exercised, the ways in which content can be curated, or how and why one might take steps to learn about such things.
Re: Why Infinite-Scrolling in Mobile Apps is Destroying Content Consumption
#5the best is when you cannot get to to footer anymore because of infinite scrolling...that includes FB too...
Re: Why Infinite-Scrolling in Mobile Apps is Destroying Content Consumption
#6"There is no reason why Facebook, Instagram or Twitter can’t algorithmically determine which, say 20 posts are important to us, and give the option to only view those." What could possibly go wrong?
Facebook actually does that right now via EdgeRank. (unlike Twitter and Instagram which is strict chronological)
The results are not good.
Re: Why Infinite-Scrolling in Mobile Apps is Destroying Content Consumption
#7I do agree with the author but As others pointed out the algos currently are not that good to find the top10/20 stories. And the question remains that if you limit users to 20, would they feel dissatisfied that there must be more and that they are missing out?
So is the onus on the mobile developer to solve or for the user to adjust their behavior?
Re: Why Infinite-Scrolling in Mobile Apps is Destroying Content Consumption
#8I don't like infinite scrolling either because there is seemingly no end, and no "landmarks" like page numbers that you can refer to to see how far you've gone.
Re: Why Infinite-Scrolling in Mobile Apps is Destroying Content Consumption
#9The author postulates that infinite content scrolling in mobile apps causes "dissatisfaction" and "intellectual bloat" for the user, and concludes that developers should limit content. An alternative explanation might focus on when and how discipline and self-restraint should be exercised, the ways in which content can be curated, or how and why one might take steps to learn about such things.
As developer we tend to think it's "never the fault of the user". We have to design around human proclivities or else we would be neurologists or something. I agree with the article that this is a problem that could be solved and should be solved.
Unfortunately I think the easiest answer is gamification, sure to create much gnashing of teeth.
Re: Why Infinite-Scrolling in Mobile Apps is Destroying Content Consumption
#10Content limited digests are actually very popular. http://sidebar.io/2014/1/4 is one example but there are many many. It would be interesting to see how competitive they would be against the big mobile apps but at the very least it's an existing, confirmed, niche.