Need for user‑controlled, non‑addictive social media alternatives
Problem
Teenagers and users criticize blanket social‑media bans as missing the real issue: the extreme, algorithm‑driven, addictive design that harms all ages. They argue that instead of bans, the industry should provide open APIs and customizable clients that let users de‑gamify feeds, use chronological ordering, and retain control, while parents need better education rather than simplistic prohibitions.
Pain points
- Extreme, addictive algorithmic experiences harm users of all ages, not just children
- Lack of user control; desire for open APIs and customizable feeds, chronological ordering, de‑gamified experience
- Bans are a simplistic political fix that ignore deeper product design issues
Questions to verify
- Would you be willing to use a platform that offers an open API and customizable algorithms?
- Do you think parental education and involvement is more effective than bans?
- Would you pay for a non‑addictive, de‑gamified, chronological social platform?
Evidence
quote · @Anonymous
In scary headlines like these, technology is the subject, and teens are passive victims. -- I am sorry, but how is this not true, when companies like Meta are in full control of their algorithms, tuning them to maximum addiction.
quote · @Anonymous
There is nothing wrong with social media; if anything, we need more social media. What we need less of are the attention‑maximizing, eldritch‑horror things that have stolen social media and now walk around wearing the skins of the entity that summoned it.
quote · @Anonymous
The big problem with these "social media child bans", is that the capitalistic extreme‑addictive experience IS harming everyone. Not just children. What should have been was what Cory Doctorow has pushed - forced open API integration.
Disclaimer: this card is distilled by AI from community discussions as “pain point evidence”. It is a starting point for need analysis and validation, not a “validated market need”. AI has analytical limits; please open the original discussion above to manually verify before key decisions.