The EU moves to kill infinite scrolling

[Mr. Sparkle]

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. Brussels has told the company to change several key features, including disabling infinite scrolling, setting strict screen time breaks and changing its recommender systems. The demand follows the Commission's declaration that TikTok’s design is addictive to users — especially children.

The fact that the Commission said TikTok should change the basic design of its service is “ground-breaking for the business model fueled by surveillance and advertising," said Katarzyna Szymielewicz, president of the Panoptykon Foundation, a Polish civil society group.

That doesn’t bode well for other platforms, particularly Meta’s Facebook and Instagram. The two social media giants are also under investigation over the addictiveness of their design.

more... https://www.politico.eu/article/tiktok-meta-facebook-instagram-brussels-kill-infinite-scrolling/

[bucolic_frolic]

1. The entire ecosystem is beyond saturation

As time moves along you need faster technology, more memory, constant upgrades, just to keep up. You need to install more and more as you spend more and more. You need to doom scroll more to evade everybody trying to sell you something. AI helps them manufacture it faster. WHen things don't work well you need to spend more time to fix the avalanche's impact on your systems.

There is more information if only 10% of it is useful, vital, or excellent. I'm trying hard with some success in spending less time online.

[usonian]

2. I added an auto-pager extension to Firefox so that I wouldn't have to click next, next, next, next, next ...

Works on some sites. Most don't.

YMMV

[OC375]

3. Well Done EU!

We should be taking notes.

Absolutely awesome product description...

"business model fueled by surveillance and advertising"