Interactions, exposure and reach are restricted after investing attention.
Description
Optimizing algorithms without feedback for retention.
Examples
Content and interactions that the user is familiar with and relies upon suddenly change with no feedback. Examples include follower count lowered from bot removal and search results updates.
Algorithm promotes posting a lot to not lose out. The exposure and visibility is determined not by the quality, but by how active you are and the number of followers. The less you use a platform, the less you’ll appear in search results.
Buying followers.
Products like Twitter and Instagram limit the exposure of content for money.
Products like Twitter allowing the use of bots to drive engagement.
Fear of reading reviews or medical symptoms due to disproportionate number of complaints.
Products like Facebook primed users when adding their own email address as default.
Products like OKCupid uses their algorithm to manipulate what profiles users see.
Intentionally limiting a users reach without feedback, also known as shadow-banning.
Post-AI Altruheuristics
Biases
Negativity Bias
Loss Aversion
Biology
Anxiety: Unexpected changes bring uncertainty.
StatusPlay: Lowered if losing followers causing negative emotions.
CBT Distortions
Personalization e.g. Did I do something wrong?
Overgeneralization e.g. I’m always screwing up.
Jumping to Conclusions e.g. Is it because of me?
Circ's Principles
Transparency: Reduce anxiety by removing uncertainty and explaining algorithm updates.
Mental Health
None.
Pre-AI Heuristics
Dark Patterns
None.
Gestalt
None.
Graphic Design
None.
Don Norman Principles
Feedback: None is provided.
Jakob Nielson Principles
UserControl: No choice is provided and impact is immediate.