“Again, Twitter’s interface was very intentionally designed to maximize the amount of time per day a person spends online. The Fediverse really doesn’t need that, but it has it anyway. That’s why I’m proposing that we reevaluate the way we design Fediverse interfaces and clients in light of how we can best strike a balance between creating a positive experience and one that puts the well-being of the person using your product first.”
I think designing fediverse apps to have “anti-design” features is really important, don’t get me wrong, however once you take the corporation out of social media questions of “addiction” and what amounts essentially to recreational drug use get much murkier.
If a developer and users establish consent (something that is impossible on corporate social networks by design) than what is wrong with addictive fediverse interfaces?
I think it is VERY easy for this question to slip into outdated conversations about drug use and addiction because people aren’t realizing that in the case of non-profit social networks this IS a question of recreational drug use and addiction.
I am absolutely not trying to downplay the very real damage social media or drug addiction can impart on people’s lives (myself included) however its complicated.
The relevant question is do people stumble into drugs and become addicted by accident or is drug use and addiction primarily a coping strategy and indicator of trauma and pain?
I use to have that thought “is this homeless person just going to use this money I give them for drugs?” (which is a shitty thought on many levels but yah) and it took me a long time to realize if that is what gets them through the next day who the fuck am I to judge? Perhaps their coping strategy isn’t very healthy for them, but honestly maybe their life is in such a difficult place it would be absurd to expect someone not to seek out that kind of relief. Denying them that drug perhaps does nothing for their quality of life.
I think questions of WHY someone seeks out addictive experiences go far beyond user interface design but the flip side of that is if we ignore the root causes of those things and strip addiction out of user interface design we are potentially just robbing people of a healthier outlet to use a drug they feel that they need.
In my opinion the dark truth about social media addiction is that it wouldn’t be anywhere near as much of a problem if people were happy and healthy. Modern society, at least in the US is ripping people apart on countless different levels, from the cruelty of denying basic needs to people all the way up to ensaring people in extremely well paying jobs that take up their whole life and destroy them.
Many days off all I can do is sit on my couch and blob out on my phone and that isn’t necessarily the fault of my phone. Take my phone away and you just have a sad broken person who has to turn somewhere else with an addictive loop for something to give me relief. I don’t necessarily need less addictive apps, I need a higher quality of life.
What I am trying to say is that I think developers need to think about establishing consent with users and empathetically providing them addictive experiences when they need it (aka good video games). There are definitely problems with addiction in apps but they are DWARFED by the brutality of modern life.