Facebook Dark Patterns: Big tech companies like Amazon, Facebook and Google didn't just "sprout": we all created them! Today we will deal a little with the design of their pages. Everything is intentional, and they serve something.
Sometimes even design is absolutely appropriate and helps to change human behaviors.
These patterns are called “dark patterns , ” and they are everywhere. Below, Evan Puschak describes the subject very vividly in a YouTube video:
The video first shows how difficult it is to close an Amazon account, and continues with other tricks designers use to make you press the wrong button for you and the right one for them. So the unsubscribe link is the same color as the rest of the font to make it invisible, and more.
Something similar happened with deleting an account from Yahoo!
But let's see what happens with Facebook. The upcoming European GDPR Privacy Act wants users to explicitly allow data collection, and Facebook of course has to explicitly request this permission.
But we know that Facebook is very good at making people do whatever they want. So knowing how companies work with Dark Patterns to trick you, let's take a look at a Facebook blog post announcing the new GDPR features:
Notice how the "Accept and Continue" button is blue at the bottom, while the option that really lets you change your settings is colorless? Of course it is advisable. They want you to click "Accept and Continue", which is why they make the choice that they make sure stands out.
If you are not convinced let us do a test. If you are a member of a group and try to log out you will see the image below (no I will not log out of ECM)…
If you just press Enter what do you think will happen? No you will not leave the team because Enter goes to (x).
Facebook (and not just) does that much. Companies involved in web design are very good at making the crowd change behavior, and we should learn to observe such small details.
Pay attention and you will notice many kinds of dark motifs being everywhere.
George is still wondering what he is doing here….
