Social Media by Design
This paper reviews how major platforms maximise time-on-screen through recommendation systems, infinite scroll, and interface patterns regulators have described as manipulative. It summarises evidence on mental health and adolescent vulnerability, outlines design-level interventions (satisfaction-signal ranking, usage limits, removing public engagement metrics), and examines Flair as a case study in anti-engagement architecture.
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Citation
Ali, A. S. (2026). Social Media by Design: A Literature Review on Engagement-Optimised Platforms and the Case for a Privacy-First Architecture. Flair. https://useflair.app/literature-review/