The Addiction Economy

The system rewards companies that keep their users highly engaged with their app and unless we dramatically change incentive/regulatory structures, there really isn’t much society can do about it beyond individual restraint and choice.

You might also be aware that all this is delivered by means of “persuasive design”—an umbrella term for an armory of psychological techniques borrowed directly from the designers of casino slot machines, for the express purpose of encouraging compulsive behavior. One example among hundreds is the ubiquitous drag-down-to-refresh gesture, which keeps... See more