Wow I didn’t know they were doing this. That’s crazy but it makes sense.

I don’t think these features weren’t added to make the platforms more addictive originally though. They were added because they encoded valuable social signals that weren’t being surfaced before. They only became a lever in the addiction slot machine after algorithmic timelines.

It’s a fine line but it’s an important one I think. Because in social networks the line between adding value for users and being addictive is verrrry thin. In a way all humans are addicted to relationships.