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5 Ways The Tech Giants Are Stealing Your Time

1. The Infinite Scroll

If you're a millennial or older you probably remember back when pagination was ubiquitous on the internet. When you searched something on google, for example, you would see 25 results and then you would be at the bottom of the page where you were presented with a button to go to the next set of 25 results. Reddit worked the same way originally, as did Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, etc. Nowadays you see infinite results, all you have to do is keep scrolling and the videos or posts or results will keep appearing.

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It might not seem like a big difference, but research shows that it has a massive impact on how long we spend on a site. I can spend my Saturday morning scrolling through 300 reddit posts without ever having to consciously decide to press a button to continue my scrolling, whereas if I were scrolling in 2012 I would have had to hit the "next page" button 12 times to see the same number of posts.

2. Autoplay

Think back to Netflix circa 2015. Do you remember what happened when you got to the end of an episode? If you don't, I'll remind you. You were prompted with a button to click if you wanted to watch the next episode. Nowadays, of course, you have a few seconds to opt out of playing the next episode, but if you do nothing, the show goes on. This is a similar concept to the infinite scroll, and the result is the same. Users spend rack up more screen time when they aren't asked to deliberately choose whether or not they want to continue watching.

3. Personalized Suggestions

The algorithms behind many of the tech giants including Youtube and Facebook work to present user's with personalized suggestions that will keep them engaged with the content. They track what users click on, how long they engage with content, and how long their typical browsing sessions are to learn user's patterns. The algorithms then present the user with content that is likely to keep them engaged for longer. Google's algorithms work towards similar goals.

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Have you ever noticed that when two people google the same thing, they don't always see the same results? This is a result of Google tracking user's data and presenting results that the algorithm predicts the user will engage with. These personalized suggestions were certainly not intended for nefarious purposes. In a lot of cases most people wouldn't mind being presented with personalized suggestions. If Google knows I love Thai food, I have no problem with it bumping up Thai restaurants when I search "restaurants near me". There are cases, however when this can be concerning. For example, try typing "Global Warming Is" into Google and see what the autofill suggestions are. For some people, the results might say "Global Warming is a Hoax", "Global Warming is Made Up", "Global Warming is not Real", while others might see "Global Warming is Caused By Humans", "Global Warming Is Going To Destroy Earth", "Global Warming Is a Problem".

4. The "Like" Button

Facebook's "Like" button was first intended as a way for people to spread joy and positivity to their friends and family, however the results have taken a more cynical turn. In today's literature you're more likely to see the "like" button, or the equivalent on Instagram compared to an addictive drug than a vehicle for spreading happiness. The engineers at Facebook accidentally created what is essentially a mini slot machine inside the phone of every Facebook user. Every time you pick up the phone there's a chance that someone "liked" your latest post, or sent you a message, or tagged you in a photo, and that feeling keeps people coming back to their screens over and over and over again.

5. Notifications

Imagine you're sitting in the dentists chair mid-appointment when you hear the soft little "ping" of an incoming notification. You can't get to your phone, so you'll just have to wait, but that notification sits on the outskirts of your mind as you wait for the appointment to end. Everything about notifications is designed to capture your attention and bring you back to your phone, and the engineers behind them have done an incredible job. The average American picks up their phone 144 times per day. That's once every 7 minutes.