Technologies of the past like the early personal computer were not created to be addictive. All of that changed when we figured out how to monetize on user attention.

Addictive services are all built upon frequent behaviors that form user’s habits (not to be confused with user incentives). You search on the internet so frequently that Google is able to cement itself as the one and only solution in your mind. Users stop thinking about whether or not to use Google, they just do.

The most addictive technologies don’t try to sell the user on their value [the user almost immediately finds the product irresistible.]

Product managers should think deeply about design ethics of the services they build.

The goal should be for users to spend meaningful time on their platforms. How long that should be will vary from user to user. As creators of products, we must think of how to identify signals for a single user and ensure that their experience is meaningful to them.

UPDATE: [I plan to write a part 2 of this post on some alternate ways we can monetize platforms than simply attention. By creating value for both platforms and users, we can find a safe middle ground as we scale to even more internet users. Stay tuned.]