BRUSSELS — Doom scrolling is doomed, if the EU gets its way.
The European Commission is for the first time tackling the addictiveness of social media in a fight against TikTok that may set new design standards for the world’s most popular apps.
Doesn’t look like this extends beyond TikTok, or at least mainstream social media as a whole.
Infinite scroll itself isn’t really a problem. It’s just one of the many tools used to keep users engaged on these platforms specifically by removing an interruption from the experience, but isn’t sufficient on its own to create that unhealthy behavior. It’s also used in healthier ways, like search results, chat logs, and so on.
The EU attempting to rein in these platforms’ control over its users will be interesting to watch. There are decades of research these companies have done on user psychology to maximize their capture of the user’s attention. Forcing them not to use all the tools they developed might result in people breaking out of the cycle of endlessly scrolling. Or it might just annoy users. I don’t know which will happen.
I don’t don’t think this is useful at all, if it only results in a next button occasionally popping up.
It provides a natural stopping point, which as another user explained requires a conscious effort to continue rather than infinite scrolling which requires a conscious effort to stop.
It doesn’t sound like much, but it can be those little things that make the difference. A little bit less on one side of the scale, and a little bit more on another.
I know I find myself scrolling for way longer than I intended, and when I look back and realize how much I scrolled it always seems to surprise me. Sometimes I tell myself I’m about to stop, but I just keep going. I see another headline at the bottom of the screen and have to click on it. After that I see another one below it, etc. Sometimes I have to scroll so the screen ends on one post, and I won’t let it show the one below it, cause otherwise I might never stop.
People whose minds are already wired for addiction can struggle with this. Just like with beer. “One felt good, so twelve must feel twelve times as good.” It’s a subconscious process, but it can feel like a vortex and be really hard to escape.
Pagination would take away that “mindless” aspect, and for instance I could see when I reach page 10 or whatever and decide that’s far enough. Or I could hop on and just scroll one page. Or I could scroll a few pages and then say “Okay at the bottom of this page I’m stopping.” It’s much easier that way for people who struggle with it.
You totally nailed it! This is a great and thoughtful comment, and I appreciate the effort you put into it to help educate others. :)
