Ireland's media regulator has opened an investigation into Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, for the use of dark patterns in its web design. The company is suspected of employing interface tricks to force users to share personal data or accept personalized feeds, hiding clear options within complex menus.
Design techniques that confuse the user 🧩
The investigation focuses on how Meta makes it difficult to switch between a personalized feed and a chronological one. Dark patterns include menus with redundant options, deceptive buttons, and settings resets when closing the app. Faced with the complexity, the user ends up accepting the default option. These practices violate the transparency and consent rules established in the EU.
Meta, the magician who makes your options disappear 🎩
It seems Meta has hired Houdini for its menus: the option to view your feed in chronological order disappears as if by magic. If you manage to find it, it hides again when you close the app, like a game of digital hide-and-seek. In the end, the user gives up and accepts the personalized feed, thinking: oh well, I already like seeing what they want me to see.