Why do social media apps reload feeds suddenly, without user permission?

Question

I'm sure everyone has experienced going to tap on a Twitter or Instagram post, only to have the entire timeline refresh. For me, it's up there with sudden Windows Update restarts for, "Control-stealing UX that threatens to send me into a murderous rage." Is there a technical reason? Do designers just hate the idea of users having even a modicum of choice in what they see? I personally don't see why there would ever be a reason to reload or refresh a page or app screen until the user requested it.

metaloha · Accepted Answer

It's called user-antagonistic design, and while it is sometimes inadvertent (like menu links that have a large hover effect but only the text in the middle is clickable), it is often intentional - especially on sites that measure eyeball engagement instead of emotional engagement. There is no technical reason for it other than some suit somewhere in management felt that there's no reason you would ever want to see the same thing on the screen if you happen to walk away for a few minutes (like to get your spouse to see something interesting) - as soon as you interact with the site again, it refreshes and you have to scroll and scroll again, viewing more ads and "engaging" with more content.

pwg · Answer

> Is there a technical reason?No.> I personally don't see why there would ever be a reason to reload or refresh a page or app screen until the user requested it.It adds to the magical 'engagement' metrics they believe they measure. And the higher they believe their 'engagement' metrics are, the larger ad prices they charge, resulting in higher revenue from ads.Everything the 'social media' sites do revolves around "how to serve more ads to more eyeballs".

DamonHD · Answer

You can turn that off in Mastodon's Web interface with "Slow mode". I run one of my accounts that way to avoid missing anything on its fairly tightly curated follow list.

DinakarS · Answer

Social media intends to feature &ldquo;new and happening nearby&rdquo; to keep engagement rates high.I&rsquo;m more likely to react on something happening today vs throwback to something in 2020.