Engagement Metrics Criticism

The cluster focuses on how online platforms and sites like HN optimize for user engagement metrics, often at the expense of user experience, leading to ragebait, entrapment, and other negative outcomes. Discussions debate the implications of prioritizing engagement over utility or quality content.

➡️ Stable 0.5x Startups & Business
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#2916
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Keywords

IT TO FEED HN PhDs youtube.com MOLOCH ALL KPI engagement metric optimizing engage user metrics bubbles content site increase

Sample Comments

yieldcrv Oct 30, 2023 View on HN

not true, it gives you more of what you engaged withif you looked for a few seconds longer = engagementif you read the comments in disgust = engagementif you commented in disagreement, even to reply to another comment = engagement

jmcqk6 Aug 8, 2018 View on HN

Why is engagement the metric to optimize for? I can find utility in a post that I don't engage with.

emptyparadise Mar 31, 2021 View on HN

Because they're optimizing for some engagement metric and not user experience.

kqr Jun 5, 2021 View on HN

This sounds like something that "increases engagement metrics" ...

ysofunny Jul 22, 2024 View on HN

how about "user engagement"?

rolandog Jun 4, 2019 View on HN

I think that is a consequence of maximizing engagement.

tmaly Jul 3, 2017 View on HN

from whose perspective? for HN, it helps drive engagement.

chronid Nov 25, 2018 View on HN

Maybe it improves their engagement metric.

wildrhythms May 7, 2024 View on HN

When the metric for success starts and stops at "engagement"!

hatthew Oct 28, 2024 View on HN

lots of platforms optimize for engagement, but all that does is encourage ragebait