Products · Broad category
Social media
Raised as a usability problem by 173 people on Hacker News over 17 years (2010–2026), in 171 threads.
This is a broad category rather than one product, so its issues aren't ranked on the home page.
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Every issue, all time, most people first
Feeds are designed for endless engagement, making it hard to stopUnreviewed
20102026- Platforms push harmful content users didn't ask for via dark patterns making them addictive2026-08-11
- Apps use addictive dark patterns that keep people engaged against their choice2026-07-14
- Infinite scroll and recommender feeds keep people using apps longer than they want2026-05-04
Feed ordering is opaque, so people can't see how posts are arrangedUnreviewed
20102026- The chronological following feed is extremely hard to find2023-03-31
- Feed is not chronological and can't be filtered into lists, making it hard to follow what you want2021-08-20
- Feed defaults to top posts instead of newest, a dark pattern2020-07-16
Notifications pull people away and they lose track of their purposeUnreviewed
20102026- Users get pulled into notifications and lose track of their original purpose2024-06-12
- Constant nagging notifications pull attention away from work2024-04-03
- Allowing notifications opts you into everything; removing unwanted ones requires digging through their UI2021-03-20
Feed reloads on return, forcing people to scroll past content againUnreviewed
20102026- Auto-refresh and endless feed create FOMO that keeps people scrolling, and they can't resume where they left off2026-07-14
- Feed reloads when user returns, forcing them to scroll past content again2024-02-17
- Page slows so badly while scrolling the feed that the user gives up2019-07-21
Unreviewed issues were grouped by machine: Claude Haiku labelled each comment as a usability complaint, named what it's about and summed up the problem in a line, and a small model grouped similar problems. Nobody has checked them by hand. Expect mistakes.
The newest 50 complaints
- Tapping a video thumbnail gives no feedback or shows a progress indicator that never finishes2026-09-14
- Social networks are almost impossible to use in a mobile browser without the app2026-08-28
- Platforms push harmful content users didn't ask for via dark patterns making them addictive2026-08-11
- Auto-refresh and endless feed create FOMO that keeps people scrolling, and they can't resume where they left off2026-07-14
- Apps use addictive dark patterns that keep people engaged against their choice2026-07-14
- Social media becomes unusable when logged out, forcing login2026-07-12
- New accounts get banned instantly and must pass a lengthy review before use2026-06-12
- Infinite scroll and recommender feeds keep people using apps longer than they want2026-05-04
- Feed is designed to be hard to walk away from2026-03-28
- Each platform has different character limits and quirks, making cross-posting hard to get right2026-03-23
- Feeds are unusable for the commenter, with Bluesky's timeline the worst2026-02-20
- Phone apps push passive scrolling and have a far worse UI experience2026-02-09
- Important posts from friends and events get missed because the algorithm buries them2026-02-06
- Ad-driven design makes ads hard to block or skip and removes user control over the experience2026-02-04
- Signup asks for email, login, password, then a separate Bluesky sign-in, which feels confusing2026-01-19
- Links on major sites no longer open in new tabs, and popups and shifting elements block clicks2026-01-16
- Downloader sites bury the file under aggressive ads, popups, redirects, or forced app installs2025-12-23
- No way to stop the algorithm pushing rage-bait content after engaging2025-11-27
- Social media websites are intentionally slow and buggy in the browser2025-11-26
- Links open inside the app instead of the default browser, losing login cookies and forcing re-login2025-10-29
- Feeds are designed to keep people scrolling endlessly, past what they intend2025-10-28
- Algorithm shows unwanted content and makes preferred content hard to find2025-09-25
- Follow option missing on some post cards; sometimes can't follow contributors2025-09-05
- Can't tell feed to show fewer divisive posts, so cool content is hard to find2025-07-13
- No button to filter out AI content; can't tell human content from AI2025-05-24
- Mobile visitors are redirected and walled into the redesign they didn't choose2025-05-09
- Pages reload slowly, show low information density, and navigation feels confusing in browser2025-04-27
- Infinite scrolling is a dark pattern that keeps people engaged against their will2025-04-01
- Endless scrolling and engagement hacks keep people hooked and make it hard to stop2025-02-22
- Interfaces are obsolete and cluttered, with ads shoved over useful content2025-02-09
- Links are punished or blocked, forcing people into workarounds like link-in-bio2024-07-13
- Users get pulled into notifications and lose track of their original purpose2024-06-12
- Must switch between many apps to see friends' updates, with algorithmic content mixed in2024-04-27
- Constant nagging notifications pull attention away from work2024-04-03
- Constantly changing feed makes it impossible to follow anything sanely2024-03-23
- Uses dark patterns to keep people hooked on the product2024-03-23
- Low information density makes the site frustrating to use2024-02-22
- Feed reloads when user returns, forcing them to scroll past content again2024-02-17
- Addictive dark patterns push people into compulsive use they did not choose2024-01-30
- App has so many buttons and complex UI that it overwhelms users2024-01-12
- Constant login walls and app banners, or constantly switching between apps, make browsing painful2024-01-09
- Early alternative apps have errors, crashes and unintuitive UX that drive users away2023-12-23
- Endless scrolling with low-effort posts buries worthwhile content2023-11-17
- Must click each flower individually to read posts, slow to scan2023-10-08
- Requiring an email address before doing anything is enough friction to make the user leave2023-10-08
- Ads, cookie banners and forced login add friction so user stopped visiting2023-10-06
- Feed is algorithmic, so users can't tell why content appears or stop it2023-08-31
- Infinite scrolling keeps people scrolling longer than they intend2023-08-28
- Shows a blank page for about two seconds before redirecting to the app2023-08-21
- Official apps are obfuscated, so blind users must rely on third-party apps2023-07-20