When the algorithm breaks the UX
I have a love-hate relationship with the UX of social media. I love how you can connect to people from all over the world, find like-minded people and have an extra channel to communicate with friends, family and other people you know. I can also discover interesting content that people I don’t know post. But the dark side of the UX of social media drives me away from time to time. There are many dark sides, but this time it’s the algorithms that turn me off.
As UX designers, we are constantly pushed to find ways to enhance engagement. The UX designers at Facebook, Twitter, Google are masters at their craft. They design their apps in such a way that people keep on spending more and more time in them. We all know of the biases and dark UX patterns that keep people glued to these apps. We also know that social media companies are taking steps towards well-being by recognizing the negative impact of too much time on social media. We also know that the distance these media create between people make people be more blunt and aggressive than they would in real life encounters. We also know the negative emotional effects of chasing likes. But this is not why I am currently on a digital detox from these apps. I have enough discipline to limit my time spent on social media apps. I avoid conversations that are aggressive and insulting. I recognize a dark pattern when I see one. I am training myself to be okay with not being liked. Right now, I am on a detox from the algorithms that have gone mad.
About two year ago, I quit smartphones for more than a year. Just to see if I could survive in the world without a smartphone. I could. I became creative with work-arounds. I switched back though. Not because I couldn’t live without a smartphone. Not because I didn’t love being off the grid (I loved it). I switched back because there are also huge benefits of using a smartphone. WhatsApp, Mobile banking, writing apps, shared shopping lists. Sometimes I long back to the days without a smartphone.
Monotony
This time I am on a detox for a different reason. It’s the algorithms. They have gone mad. They push me into a bubble I don’t want to be in. I only get confirmation of my ideas. I am nudged into an extremist position. Next to the people I voluntarily follow, I get recommendations that are so siloed. There is no variation anymore. I want to have a broad view on life. I want to experience all kinds of interesting content. But I can’t find it anymore. I’m stuck in a bubble and I am having trouble finding content outside my bubble. The internet used to be a place where I would stumble into interesting things I wasn’t looking for. The magic of the internet was clicking from one link to another, surfing the web, not knowing where you would end up. Now the apps are all siloed and want to keep you on their platform. And the content that is served by the algorithms is so monotonous, mono-cultural. If I look at one video of fitness exercises, I don’t need my entire feed full of it. My interests are broader than that. I want the internet to broaden my horizon, not limit it.
If I feel I’m in a bubble, I want to leave
Either the math behind the algorithms has weird settings or I am an anomaly. The algorithm doesn’t recognize that I don’t want to be in a funnel, in a bubble. If I Google a type of sneaker, I do not need that to fill my Insta feed. I see that the mental health issues around too much social media consumption are recognized by the makers. But I feel the algorithms are even more of a threat to social media usage. If I feel like I am pushed into a bubble by my feeds, I get out. If I feel I am being programmed, I hack the system and leave. To me, that is bad UX. The user experience for me should be about connectivity and broadening my horizon. And I believe that there is a danger in too many people getting caught in algorithm bubbles. It narrows your view on the world. It only confirms and doesn’t challenge the ideas in your head.
I want to be challenged
At this moment, my feeds feel limiting. If I want to use them again, I feel I need to reboot them. Start new accounts with a new email address. But I fear they will also be limiting in no time. Maybe incognito mode would help. Maybe I can go back after my detox. See them with new eyes. Maybe not. I know I don’t like the feeling of being in a bubble and only seeing a very small slice of the world. I don’t like being confirmed in my beliefs all the time. I want to share ideas not chase likes by conforming. I want to be challenged. Not limited and reassured. That is a big part of the UX of a lot of platforms right now. That is breaking the UX for me right now.
“We believe that ethical technology is technology that works for you. It’s technology that helps you sleep, not keeps you up. It tells you when you’ve had enough. It gives you space to create or draw or write or learn, not refresh just one more time.” — Tim Cook
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