www/proprietary/workshop mal.rec

[Therese Godefroy]

CVSROOT:        /webcvs/www
Module name:    www
Changes by:     Therese Godefroy <th_g> 19/11/16 07:53:49

Modified files:
        proprietary/workshop: mal.rec 

Log message:
        Addictiveness of social networks (www-discuss 2019-11-13).

CVSWeb URLs:
http://web.cvs.savannah.gnu.org/viewcvs/www/proprietary/workshop/mal.rec?cvsroot=www&r1=1.177&r2=1.178

Patches:
Index: mal.rec
===================================================================
RCS file: /webcvs/www/www/proprietary/workshop/mal.rec,v
retrieving revision 1.177
retrieving revision 1.178
diff -u -b -r1.177 -r1.178
--- mal.rec     16 Nov 2019 12:32:26 -0000      1.177
+++ mal.rec     16 Nov 2019 12:53:49 -0000      1.178
@@ -25,6 +25,67 @@
 ####    Please don't remove the blank line after this marker!    ####
 # ADD NEW BLURB HERE
 
+Added: 2019-11-16
+Id: 201803210
+RT: www-discuss 2019-11-13 (Addictiveness of social media...)
+PubDate: 2017-05-30
+PubDate: 2013-07-25
+PubDate: 2018-03-21
+PubDate: 2016-05-01
+PubDate: 2018-01-01
+Target: proprietary-addictions.html addictiveness
+Keywords: facebook instagram pinterest
+Blurb: <p>Some <span>social networking</span> apps are <a
++   href="https://www.jeffbullas.com/facebook-creates-addiction/";>
++   designed to get users addicted</a>. These try to merge into your daily
++   routine by exploiting social pressure and your natural desire for
++   socialization, converting habitual gestures into thorough addiction. As
++   already noted for games, addictiveness is essentially based on random
++   rewards. In the present case, the rewards are messages from friends
++   and followers, &ldquo;likes,&rdquo; news, interesting videos, etc. The
++   software is designed to trigger users' desire for these rewards,
++   and keep this desire alive as long as possible.</p>
++
++   <ul>
++     <li>By default, notifications are sent every time a new item comes
++     in, instead of, say, once a day. They are associated with sounds or
++     vibrations which make them even more compelling. (Remember Pavlov's
++     experiments with rats.) These triggers are often opt-out, and many
++     users don't try to turn them off. They are most effective when the
++     app is installed on a mobile device which is always on and never
++     leaves the user. As a side effect, they may contribute to the <a
++     
href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/reading-between-the-headlines/201307/smartphone-addiction";>
++     addictiveness of &ldquo;smart&rdquo; phones</a>.</li>
++
++     <li>Users are served selected material
++     that is likely to interest   them, based on <a
++     
href="https://theconversation.com/facebook-is-killing-democracy-with-its-personality-profiling-data-93611";>
++     profiling</a>. (This paves the way to <a
++     href="/proprietary/proprietary-manipulation.html">manipulation</a>,
++     by the way.)</li>
++
++     <li>The app interface is designed to make   users
++     stay on the site as long as possible, using <a
++     
href="https://uxplanet.org/ux-infinite-scrolling-vs-pagination-1030d29376f1";>
++     infinite scrolling</a> for example.</li>
++
++     <li>The company that owns the social network tries
++     to cover   users' needs as extensively as possible, by <a
++     
href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mergers_and_acquisitions_by_Facebook";>
++     acquiring other companies</a> if needed. Once users
++     have concentrated   most of their online activities and
++     a lot of their personal data on   a single platform (or
++     a set of platforms that belong to the same   group), they find it <a
++     
href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/jan/01/antisocial-media-why-decided-cut-back-facebook-instagram";>
++     almost impossible to leave</a>. And even if they wanted to, they
++     would have a hard time digging out the relevant options, and the
++     app would aggressively nag them to stay.</li>
++   </ul>
++
++   <p>A good way to minimize the risk of addiction, short of avoiding
++   social media altogether, is to turn off notifications and leave as
++   little as possible of your own data on the platform.</p>
+
 Added: 2019-10-31
 Id: 201910131
 RT: www-discuss 2019-10-31 (Safari spies on users for Tencent)