The FB Case of the Missing Hyperlink

If, like me you still use Facebook, then you will have noticed a dark design pattern. The pattern is to hide hyperlinks to stories in the comments, rather than to make it easy to click straight through.

Facebook has convinced content creators and social media monkeys that if they post the hyperlink in comments, rather than directly, it will promote their content and make them more visible.

Rather than encourage me to click through that design pattern encourages me to comment on the clickbait headline, and completely ignore the original post.

Imagine having to click once, to see the hyperlink to a story, and a second to RTFA (Read the Fabulous Article). By forcing us to click twice to leave FB, they are in effect making the Facebook (FB) golden cage more sticky. They are saying to content creators “Write your post, share it to FB, but only in the comments”,

When I first saw this I thought “This is sub-optimal” and now, months later, seeing that the pattern is still here I feel the need to denounce it.

Web Surfing and Silo Life

Years ago we surfed the web. We visited sites directly and we browsed each site, individually. Over time we have fallen into the facebook silo and we’re being dragged down, deep into the trap. We’d like to get out, but we can’t.

Facebook has become plato’s cave, as has Whatsapp. If you’re not on Facebook, and you’re not on Whatsapp then you’re disconnected from a huge part of society.

I don’t like that so many American publishers publish a post, with a photo, and then put the article hyperlink in the comments because they’re digging the hole ever deeper.

Mindless Scrolling

What got to me, back in 2020 or so, and has lived on up to this day is that we’re not scrolling to find conversations. We’re not scrolling to find something to read. We’re scrolling as a nervous tick. We’re scrolling in the optimistic delusion that we will find something worthwhile. This scrolling for the sake of scrolling isn’t helped by hyperlinks being hidden in comments.

The Deeper Significance

All Facebook owned sites are silos. FB is a silo. Instagram is a silo. Whatsapp is a silo. People are slowly becoming prisoners of the Facebook web portal, without noticing.

People in Agreement Disagreeing

Recently I saw a post about how a petition was filed to complain about air canons being used to frighten crows. I said “We can hear them in several other villages and two people thought I meant stop complaining, when I actually meant that it annoys us too. Instead of a pleasant conversation we’re self-trolling. This, to me, is a clear sign that Facebook is a waste of time.

If people that agree on something default to think that they are in opposition then there a systemic failure.

Isn’t it ironic that in the age of tabbed browsing we live in silos?