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[-] makeshift0546@lemmy.today 0 points 2 days ago

Sure sounds like addictive features to me

[-] Doomsider@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

There is no one behind the scenes trying to make Lemmy more addictive like seen at other major social media giants where employees openly talk about being like drug dealers.

Lemmy is also not using algorithms to push political content or advertising. While these both exist on Lemmy, no one is being paid to push these into your feed.

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/11/22/were-basically-pushers-court-filings-allege-staff-at-social-media-giants-compared-their-platforms-to-drugs-00666181

https://counterhate.com/blog/what-are-algorithms-and-how-do-they-make-social-media-more-harmful/

Anything can be addictive, but the defining feature is causing problems in your daily activities of life. I have yet to hear about Lemmy causing this issue but I have seen this on other platforms such as FB, Snap, Insta, X, etc.

[-] TranquilTurbulence@lemmy.zip 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

I certainly do use Lemmy every day, so it's definitely attractive. It doesn't seem to be causing any harm yet, so I guess it's still far from being addictive in the technical sense of the word.

Just remembered that Reddit has streaks and achievements now. Could you call that a dark pattern? Either way, it's definitely manipulating the users into spending more time on Reddit than they otherwise would, and that's the first step towards addiction. IMO that sort of thing is clearly unethical and pretty dark in general. By contrast, Lemmy doesn't have that sort of "engagement enhancing" corporate cancer.

this post was submitted on 25 Jun 2026
300 points (97.8% liked)

Showerthoughts

42583 readers
716 users here now

A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. The most popular seem to be lighthearted clever little truths, hidden in daily life.

Here are some examples to inspire your own showerthoughts:

Rules

  1. All posts must be showerthoughts
  2. The entire showerthought must be in the title
  3. No politics
    • If your topic is in a grey area, please phrase it to emphasize the fascinating aspects, not the dramatic aspects. You can do this by avoiding overly politicized terms such as "capitalism" and "communism". If you must make comparisons, you can say something is different without saying something is better/worse.
    • A good place for politics is c/politicaldiscussion
  4. Posts must be original/unique
  5. Adhere to Lemmy's Code of Conduct and the TOS

If you made it this far, showerthoughts is accepting new mods. This community is generally tame so its not a lot of work, but having a few more mods would help reports get addressed a little sooner.

Whats it like to be a mod? Reports just show up as messages in your Lemmy inbox, and if a different mod has already addressed the report, the message goes away and you never worry about it.

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