Feature request for Instagram/Netflix?
Out of the 10 ways you think of trying to hook users to your platform, put in 1 way to get them out.
Aza Raskin, take a bow. The creator behind the ingenious idea of infinite scrolling has totally revolutionized how people have gotten addicted to apps like Instagram or Facebook. The binge-focussed content model of Netflix should not be taken lightly too, it gives us mere seconds to decide whether to continue watching the next episode or not, something that most of us fall for and keep watching endlessly. And I understand that money is driving such apps to try and figure out more ways to get us hooked, but I have a humble request to all of them, please think about our lives first.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think using social media apps or watching tv is all bad, on the contrary, after a busy day at work, nothing invigorates me more than scrolling through a few golden retriever puppy videos (they are so cute!). It’s the infinite scrolling that sometimes makes me forget about the concept of time and I end up spending more time than I should, and that crosses the line from feeling good to feeling guilty. I have the same complaint with Netflix, watching an episode of a great series is surely going to lift your mood, but if you’re stuck with the endless recommendation system, then there’s a good chance you’re going to get up after watching the whole season instead of one episode like you planned, and that is a horrible feeling, full of guilt of not having done anything productive in that time.
Can you not put an end to the infinite-scrolling/binging after a certain amount of time, and tell us ‘Hey, the weather seems great outside. You’ve been watching plenty of cat videos, how about a stroll in the same park that you went last time?’
But what I’m trying to request through this article is that for once, instead of getting us more addicted, can you not try to make our lives better? We know that you know so much about us, what we’ve done for the past few weekends, what food we like to eat, how often we go out, what places we like to visit etc. Can you not put an end to the infinite scrolling after a certain amount of time, and tell us ‘Hey, the weather seems great outside. You’ve been watching plenty of cat videos, how about a stroll in the same park that you went last time?’ Okay probably leave out the ‘same park that you went last time’ bit since it might be a little creepy (again, we know you know). I understand from a revenue point of view this is not practical, since the more time people spend on your app, the better for you. But come on, do you really want to sleep at night having earned a little bit more money or in knowing that you made someone’s life a little better? On a similar note, once a movie/episode finishes, and you know we’ve been watching for some time, instead of suggesting similar movies that we liked or the gist of the next episode (which tempts us to keep watching), can you not tell us good Italian restaurants nearby that have opened recently? (assuming we like Italian). Is that too much to ask from a humanity point of view?
Why can’t you use all data that you have on us for our betterment along with selling it to third party who then target us through ads? If you recommend a certain hike to us, I understand you can’t make money out of that (instead showing us an ad of a new apple game gets you some money and that’s why you go for that approach). But I’m not saying completely revamp ad logic, instead out of the 10 ways you think of trying to hook users to your platform, put in 1 way to get them out. Tell us, ‘Hey, you’ve been on your phone for the past 2 hours, I think you’re crossing the line where it was fun to where you’re trying to avoid doing something.’ You know the weather outside is perfect, how about motivating us to go outside by perhaps recommending videos of people taking hikes? Of beautiful sunset beaches? Of lovely cloud covered mountains? How about you tell us that the last Whatsapp call I made to my mom was 2 weeks ago, perhaps I would like to talk to her? Anything but the next best kitten video to keep us hooked.
Would it not help you sleep better at night knowing you made someone’s life a little better, even though you made a little less profit?