Bookmark: "The Onion: Internet Users Demand Less Interactivity"

2013-01-19

Bookmarked:

The Onion: Internet Users Demand Less Interactivity theonion.com

Given The Onion is a satirical magazine, this article is so spot-on it could – from my own conversations with “users” – just as well be about factual research:

Tired of being bombarded with constant requests to share content on social media, bestow ratings, leave comments, and generally “join in on the discussion,” the nation’s Internet users demanded substantially less interactivity this week.

Is adding all these “engagement features” and “calls to action” really something that serves the user (aka. good “design”)? Or isn’t this all about putting the publisher’s interest first (“need to get those user retention numbers up in analytics, eh”).

I'm Sebastian, Sociologist and Interaction Designer. This journal is mostly about bringing together social science and design for inclusive, privacy-focused, and sustainable "human-first" digital strategies. I also tend to a "digital garden" with carefully curated resources.

My occasionally sent email newsletter has all of the above, and there is of course also an RSS feed or my Mastodon/Fediverse profile.

Discussion:

Name

Comment *

Available formatting commands

Use Markdown commands or their HTML equivalents to add simple formatting to your comment:

Text markup

*italic*, **bold**, ~~strikethrough~~, `code` and <mark>marked text</mark>.

Lists

- Unordered item 1
- Unordered list item 2

1. Ordered list item 1
2. Ordered list item 2

Quotations

> Quoted text

Code blocks

```
// A simple code block
```

```php
// Some PHP code
phpinfo();
```

Links

[Link text](https://example.com)

Full URLs are automatically converted into links.