Possibly the most frustrating task to work on to date! It had everything geared towards vagueness and deception. I know my end time result is showing under 5 minutes, but that is only as I had to restart once I accidentally hit cancel. By that time, I knew what each page was looking for.
My observations as I completed the task:
The timer ticking away implores you to rush. I was anxious with the counter as well as the numbers blinking. I wanted to complete the task fast, but why? Why would that be a requirement? In fact both Harris (2017) and Tufekci (2017) discuss the variety of ways that we are being lured into staying on a site for as long as possible. I am not sure what the purpose of the quick response would be except for the fact that perhaps you would not take note of all that the website is asking for (perhaps even too much information). The more information given the more the company can package it up and sell.
There are two website functionalities that keep popping up, the chat bot and the Lock Screen warning. The chat bot is not functional and when you engage the help button it tells you you have over 400 people in the queue. Why would you want to lock the screen? It usually would be a function for the webpage to lock someone out. Both of these features do not have clickable boxes to engage the right next step, and both would not stop reappearing.
Wording is a huge problem in this simulation. Nothing is clear in the way its worded and it is hard to decipher what it’s asking you to fill in. Password is ‘unsafe’; cookie acceptance, ‘is that a problem for you;’ download image vs upload image; fillable boxes are asking for unknown things; and the captcha images are images of various things that fall into the same word they have requested. What would these hazy, undefined terms be for? McNamee (2019), talks about how ESL Facebook users were lured into acceptance because they Facebook was counting on their confusion. More confusion means more time spent which equals more advertising dollars.
Finally, we have become accustomed to traditional ways of navigating through websites, and it wouldn’t be hard for dark patterns (Brignull, 2011) to use this for their own gain. The slow scroll through terms and conditions because we are all guilty of scrolling past them to get to the accept. You can’t even not accept. The green cancel button that I fell for as green has always signalled go or accept. The cookie bright red banner on the top that doesn’t even allow you to make a choice.
Many of us have watched the Social Dilemma on Netflix. We have seen how we are constantly being manipulated and mined for information and yet most of us haven’t deleted out social media accounts. Does this mean we accept it? I think we can see the value in directed advertising, but when it starts advising our belief systems, that is a wake up call. I particularity identified with the idea that Harris (2017) talks about around outrage principle. It is the ‘call to arms,’ the soap box speeches that you see when someone’s rights are violated; it makes you want to offer up your point of view. Tufekci (2017) would say that this is the huge benefit to social media, as it allows us to mobilize on mass. For me, no matter the cause, it’s that manipulation that gets under my skin.
References
Brignull, H. (2011). Dark Patterns: Deception vs. Honesty in UI Design. Interaction Design, Usability, 338.
Harris, T. (2017). How a handful of tech companies control billions of minds every day. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/tristan_harris_the_manipulative_tricks_tech_companies_use_to_capture_your_attention?language=en
Mcnamee, R. (2019, January 17). I Mentored Mark Zuckerberg. I Loved Facebook. But I Can’t Stay Silent About What’s Happening. Time. https://time.com/5505441/mark-zuckerberg-mentor-facebook-downfall/
Tufekci, Z. (2017). We’re building a dystopia just to make people click on ads. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/zeynep_tufekci_we_re_building_a_dystopia_just_to_make_people_click_on_ads?language=en
tzu hsu chu
July 23, 2022 — 1:34 pm
Hello!
I thought your comment about social media was really interesting — my own FB page is dead and stuck in 2015, I rarely use it except for Marketplace and Messenger! Most people have moved on to Instagram, but even now, I don’t post anything there either! It’s one of those things where you do it or you’ll be left behind, which I feel like could be the case in the near future, when the digital realm and reality become so enmeshed it’s difficult to find where one ends and another begins.
erin duchesne
July 25, 2022 — 8:26 am
I agree- I feel so rushed by timers when I am buying tickets on a website, but now thinking about it, it only ever takes me a a minute of two, why am I always worried that the 10 minute timer will run out? And for this task, what am I even racing against? I seemed to have this drive to “win” for some reason doing this. Your time was very fast thought, good for you! (I guess you win?)