Forum:
Hi An, and all y'all who choose to read this,
First of all, thanks for making a cool project like this.
As SpaceHey continues to grow, what are ways that an up-and-coming social media platform could mindfully design and enable a more ethical user experience? How can we choose to design for good? While corporatized platforms like Facebook strive to drag users into addictive feedback loops, can SpaceHey intentionally foster a user interface and interaction with cues that aren't intended to drive addiction and shoot up and sustain those MAUs?
I understand that this is a fan-made project intended for fun, but you have an opportunity here to create a space in which you can curate that balance and to pave an exploratory path for a healthy environment which others can follow. A space for friends, I think, should not have the intensely claustrophobic dopamine-driven design that is so invasively prevalent in our current cyberspace. That would be a toxic relationship.
The avenue that SpaceHey provides for customization and user-specific tailoring is what I think is bringing a lot of people in, and I know that a lot of us appreciate that feeling of control and user agency. An open question: would allowing for more control in common spaces on the site be a benefit or a detriment to people inhabiting this platform? I believe that more control would be beneficial: for example, on the home page--what if we had the option to turn off the profile view count? What does that statistic actually do? I can see how it is cool data for the sake of data, but could it drive people to reflect that number upon their own self worth? However, I understand that it can be difficult to find a balance in offering customization and a chaotic interface, and may not be for everyone.
Would you want to avoid creating the surface level interactions like quick in and out interaction of 'double-tap and keep swiping' on Instagram? What potential is there for enabling addiction as you code the currently-in-development section of instant messaging? The potential power for a site that's pulling on nostalgic heartstrings echoing for a past in which we felt more genuine is substantial, and like Ben Parker quoted from somewhere, that great power comes with a great responsibility.
Also, as a tangential thought addressed to us who are inhabiting this space that's being created: as 'users' of a site, what power do we have, and what is our "right" in use of a platform that's being created by another? Is it entitlement to ask for better design, even if we may not know exactly what that is?
Perhaps I'm just rejecting the thought of being told what's good for me as a user. After all, there is an inherent conflict of interest between the well-being of a user and the stakeholders who profit from social platforms. When Twitter or Instagram decide to develop a new feature, they're not just doing it for fun -- it's a carefully measured investment to intensify our addiction or push product. (For example, this can be seen in Instagramโs recent disastrous rearrangement of categories, replacing the upload button with the shopping or โreelsโ tab.)
Anyway, as this is not, (hopefully, not yet), a space driven by a corporation, I am hopeful and grateful that there IS a space, and that I can still have the chance to personally address the designer. (Yes, I know, servers aren't growing on trees, and someone's got to keep the lights running.) In this, I am also glad to know that they are still a person, but it is true that a person's responsibility can only realistically extend so far.
As SpaceHey gains the press it deserves, I naively hope that there aren't hyenas viewing it as the "next big thing" to capitalize upon and eventually bleed dry as just another cash resource. Sure, there is the option and response of "just stop using it if you don't like it", but keep in mind that the whole MO of modern social media is to keep you hooked as intensely as possible. Also, who enjoys the pain of loneliness? Someone made a site, I'm here, I'm talking. I like having friends, (or at least the perception of friends....oof.) Despite my rant, I'm excited and quite pleased at the possibilities in reclaiming the internet. As An rolls out this forum feature, and maybe we can have a classic and healthy discussion--with productive debating!
Report Topic
Autumn 
Permalink
๐๐ข๐ฑ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐
ต๐
บ๐
ฝ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฑ
. I get sick of looking at it. I actually took a leave of absence from all the major social media platforms. It would be nice for Spacehey to keep to its roots. Spacehey is kinda my safe haven right now. Itโs more personal and promotes creativity. I love it here! The nostalgia 
