Things people do to Hack Your — Attention, Time, Money

Dark Patterns in Your Favorite Apps That You Don't Even Notice

Okay, when was the last time you opened Instagram, and thought I will watch Reels for 5 mins but ends up scrolling Reels for more than 30 mins.

We all been there, if you felt your attention was hacked by someone, yes indeed it was.

Your attention has been the currency for the last few years, and in 2025, attention > $1M.

That’s why Mr Beast will put a million dollars on the line for a 20 min video to get that attention.

I know it, and every developer knows it and uses it. The only ones left in the dark are the Users.

We developers try every possible way to make the UX so intriguing that it feels like a scam, but it isn’t, technically.

It’s just very, very good design doing a very, very bad thing.

It’s a system designed to hack your focus, or else someone else will steal the focus, which you will lose anyway.

Some apps go to the next level and scam you, which I will expose by the end of this blog. There’s a fine line between scamming and tricking.