
Proposed US law would ban infinite scroll, autoplaying video - gregcrv
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2019/07/proposed-us-law-would-ban-infinite-scroll-autoplaying-video/
======
typenil
"companies would have to limit users to 30 minutes of use per day by default.
Users would be allowed to choose their own time limits for daily and weekly
use, but companies would have to reset that time limit to half an hour every
single month, as well as providing 'conspicuous pop-up' displays at least once
every 30 minutes showing how much time you have spent using a service in the
past day, across all devices."

Ah good. I was hoping that legislators could find a way to make the internet
far more annoying. They should ask the DMV and TSA for additional suggestions.

------
glvn
Maybe, just maybe we should hold users more responsible. If you're spending
all day on Facebook, Twitter, etc. It's not a dark pattern that's keeping you
there, it's your lack of self-discipline that keeping you glued to these
sites/apps.

~~~
nikofeyn
while i am not convinced this law would do anything useful given that there is
plenty of other low hanging fruit for the government to address, i don't think
this is a good response. for things that maliciously target human behavior and
emotion, you can't just say "oh, use self-discipline" or "just stop". human
behavior simply doesn't work that way. addictions are real. i call this type
of targeting "emotional hacking", and it has become all too prevalent in the
form of advertising, loot boxes, subscription-based purchases, and in pretty
every form of media.

i think we have probably vastly underestimated the negative effect of social
media and various other media addictions, especially in the development of
children and teenagers.

for some time now, human technological development has outpaced and surpassed
social and behavioral development, and this is obviously a real problem. the
only way to handle it is to limit technology.

------
Sohcahtoa82
As much as I normally hate it when people cry about "nanny state" laws, I
really feel this is a nanny state law.

And it won't do anything. The people that are addicted to social media are
just going to keep clicking "Next page" over and over. If anything, it'll make
it worse, because each click is a skinner box on whether or not you'll see
something fun and exciting.

