Scientific research over the last 10 years on how engagement networks affect our overall well-being is now conclusive — and while the results are concerning, they present an opportunity for positive change. This article explores the idea of redesigning engagement networks to optimize our mindset, making us more mindful of our well-being and less mindless in our consumption.
The Science is Clear
Leading scientists in health and wellness have demonstrated that spending more than a few hours consuming content and interacting on engagement networks can increase the risk of mental unwellness. In response, parents, schools, and governments have proposed solutions such as reducing usage, eliminating it altogether, banning phones, or introducing regulations. These measures have been introduced as platforms continue to struggle in addressing the growing concerns.
However, these solutions, though well-intentioned, may have unintended consequences. First, they risk disproportionately affecting those who seek genuine connection and belonging, and they may fail to address the rebellious spirit of teenage independence. Second, these measures are primarily aimed at young people, leaving other groups who don’t fall into this category without adequate support. Finally, these solutions do not fully address the deeper digital systemic inequities discussed in a previous article.
Additionally, many entrepreneurs have attempted to create alternative networks such as Mastodon, Blue Sky, and Threads. However, these networks often use the same design components as traditional platforms, solving little beyond the decentralization of architecture, which addresses issues like free speech but fails to resolve the core challenges of engagement network design.
The Government’s Response
This “mental unwellness” is deeply embedded in the design of these platforms, and the problem isn’t going away anytime soon. Major platforms such as Instagram, X, Facebook, and TikTok have largely implemented only minimal measures to address the systemic ‘collective action problems’ identified by Jonathan Haidt. These problems refer to the side effects , including social isolation, addiction, anxiety, and depression , that engagement platforms transfer to their users. So pervasive have these issues become that governments have been forced to step in, with measures including the Kids Online Safety Act 2024 in the US and the Online Safety Act 2023 in the UK, aiming to protect those most vulnerable to the vortex created by the attention economy.
These collective action problems differ from the digital systemic inequities I’ve discussed in a previous article, as they mainly focus on young people and smartphone usage in schools.
At a high level, the proposed legislation addresses key changes, including implementing age verification to protect minors, introducing algorithmic transparency for content feeds, and mitigating risks of addictive behavior and harmful content through new tools. However, these solutions only scratch the surface of the deeper issues humanity faces.
Rather than avoiding the problem or wishing for a time when engagement networks didn’t exist, can we bridge the gap between the best of both worlds and redesign how we consume content and interact with others? The goal would be to create a more inclusive and humane future for all.
If engagement networks can influence our mindset to make us addicted to the presence of others, can we not also redesign our mindset to make us addicted to improving our own well-being? While government interventions are a step forward, they only begin to address the real challenge: how these networks reshape our mindset.
The Mindset Problem
Our mindset consists of our beliefs, attitudes, thought patterns, self-perception, habits, and behaviors. All of these factors shape how we perceive the world, and they determine how we interact with others, ourselves, and who we trust. Engagement networks can negatively affect all of these components, ultimately shaping our mindset. After all — we are what we consume.
The shared design of these networks includes common components that conflict with the evolutionary design of our mindset, leading to mental unwellness.
Over time, engagement networks can erode our mindset. Our beliefs are distorted through misinformation. Our attitudes are skewed by bots. Our thought patterns are biased by algorithms. Our self-perception is altered by Photoshop images of unattainable bodies and influencer personas gaming the system. Our habits become addictive due to the variable rewards from feeds. And our behaviors begin to imitate the symptoms of mental unwellness. What we need is not a mindset detox, but a mindset reset.
Mindset Reset
Take Instagram or X as an example, where the core experience is the content feed or, as I prefer to call it, the vortex. In the vortex, we rarely have the opportunity to step back and ask ourselves: What mindset am I in when engaging with these networks? Is the interaction goal-oriented , to consume or connect? Or is it simply to passively escape from the dragon we are avoiding? What feelings follow shortly after the consumption? The inability to achieve awareness is baked into the design of the vortex, but awareness is the most potent tool for alleviating these collection action problems — isolation, addiction, anxiety and depression.
If we can embed awareness into the core experiences of these products, we can intercept potential harm, especially for those who are most vulnerable. But that’s just the beginning. Existing experiences can be reimagined using familiar components to actively promote well-being and reset unhealthy habits into healthier ones. By reshaping the design of engagement networks, we can explore ideas that transform mindless consumption into mindful engagement, ultimately fostering a more balanced and intentional mindset.
Making Mindless Consumption More Mindful Against Addiction
The feed component was originally designed as an interactive stream of chronological updates from areas of interest. Over time, it has evolved into an algorithm-driven experience, promoting passive, disorganized, and impulsive consumption. To address this, we can redesign the feed to mitigate addictive habits and encourage more mindful engagement.
The Problems
- Lack of Goal Orientation: Humans are inherently goal-oriented, yet consuming an infinite feed lacks clear purpose. Most interactions with feeds are passive, as demonstrated by the 1% rule, where only a small percentage of users actively contribute.
- Addiction and Harm: The addictive nature of feeds stems from variable rewards delivered through intermittent reinforcement. Algorithms amplify this effect, creating a cycle that is difficult to break and potentially harmful.
The Opportunities
- From Passive to Active: Transform the feed from a mindless scroll to an intentional activity by organizing content into relevant, contextual groups. These groups can be user-generated and aligned with their values, behaviors, goals, needs, and wants.
- Intercepting the Vortex: Design mechanisms to interrupt endless scrolling by suggesting hyper-contextualized groups and content that resonate with the user’s personal goals and current context. This approach encourages purposeful consumption rather than impulsive engagement.
Making Meaningless Interactions More Meaningful Against Social Isolation
On engagement networks, many of our connections and followers are little more than avatars paired with a number. We often know very little about them , what they’re like, what we share in common. Meanwhile, the loudest voices dominate our feeds, leaving the majority unheard. Unlike our ancestors, who lived in close-knit, egalitarian tribes, today’s “public square” feels disconnected — a space where no one truly belongs, and everyone is vying for attention. This artificial social construct demands a redesign to foster genuine connection.
The Problems
- Dunbar’s Number: Research shows humans can only maintain meaningful relationships with up to 150 connections at a time. When networks extend beyond this, many connections become shallow, making us feel like strangers to one another.
- Cognitive Dissonance: Our values often clash with the content we encounter. For instance, if we value harmony with nature but are constantly bombarded with imagery of wealth, fame, and materialism, this disconnect can lead to feelings of isolation and dissatisfaction.
The Opportunities
- Redefining Connection: Before connecting, users could define the kind of relationships they seek. Shifting focus from superficial metrics to aligning with others who share similar values and goals could create more meaningful interactions.
- Humanizing the Experience: To foster empathy, we could strip away personas and highlight authentic stories — past experiences, challenges, and adversities — over curated highlight reels. This shift would encourage deeper understanding and connection between users.
Reshaping the Mindset Against Anxiety and Depression
When life shifts direction , whether by choice or circumstance , we naturally adopt a new mindset. This transition also occurs as we switch between tasks or activities. For example, participating in active discourse and then switching to passively consuming the “vortex” alters our mindset, often leaving us vulnerable to the biases embedded in algorithms.
The future of engagement networks should pivot from serving the demands of the attention economy , measured in time spent and engagements to adapting to the well-being, needs, goals, vulnerabilities, and context of users. By doing so, we can create systems that support wellness and foster more intentional experiences.
The Problems
- With every new adoption of a network, there is a cold start. This scatters our persona across different networks, resulting in fragmented and inconsistent variations. This cycle of breaking down and rebuilding self-perception reinforces artificial representations and distances us from our core truth.
- Algorithms lack awareness of both human vulnerabilities and their own. For example, users with eating disorders are exposed to content promoting unhealthy habits, and the algorithms actively promote such harmful content, perpetuating a damaging cycle.
The Solutions
- Establishing a single source of truth to represent our mindset can ensure networks adapt to our needs, aligning with our values and vulnerabilities. Instead of forcing us to conform to algorithms, this approach creates a framework where networks serve our well-being.
- Reminders are pivotal to maintaining awareness, helping us retain balance and resist exploitation. Thoughtfully designed reminders can loosen the algorithm’s grip, reinforce truths like “we are great as we are,” expose disinformation, and mitigate algorithmic biases distorting our mindset.
Reshaping the Future of Mindsets
The opportunities listed here are just the beginning of my journey to addressing digital systemic inequities and designing a more inclusive, humane world. Now is the time to confront this issue head-on — especially with the introduction of AI, the shift in new legislations, and emerging scientific research.
Join me on this mission at Circlo, where I’m working to confront these inequities and reimagine a future where we can prioritize well-being, connection, and inclusivity. Together, we can reshape the landscape for the better.
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