Hijack 10:
Predicting Errors, “Foot in the Door” strategies
Last but not least, apps can take advantage of people’s incapacity to anticipate the results of a click.
When given information, people struggle to predict the actual cost of a click. Salespeople are using “foot in the door” strategies by starting with a simple, innocent request (“Just one click to check which tweet got retweeted”) and building on it (“Why don’t you stay awhile?”). This approach is employed by nearly all engagement websites.
Imagine if web browsers and smartphones — the entry points via which individuals make these decisions — were genuinely on the lookout for users and assisted them in anticipating the effects of clicks.
For this reason, posts on websites include “Estimated reading time” at the top. People are treated with respect and dignity when you present them with the “real cost” of their choices. People were empowered to make educated decisions by default in a Time Well Spent Internet because decisions could be framed in terms of expected cost and benefit, rather than by putting in extra effort.
Bottom Line and Solutions
Are you angry that technology hijacks your company? So are we. There are literally thousands of techniques, but we’ve only included a few. Imagine entire bookcases, seminars, workshops, and trainings that impart such skills to budding digital entrepreneurs. Imagine a team of hundreds of engineers whose daily task is to come up with fresh tricks to keep you interested.
The highest form of freedom is a free mind, and in order to live, feel, think, and act freely, we need technology on our side.
We need exoskeletons for our minds and social interactions that prioritize our beliefs over our impulses in our smartphones, notifications screens, and web browsers. The time of others is valuable. And it should be rigorously protected, much like other digital rights and personal privacy.
