# The case against efficiency: friction in social media

## TL;DR

This paper argues that slowing down user interactions through friction can improve social media by reducing polarization and disinformation.

## Contribution

It introduces a complex systems framework for analyzing friction and proposes experimental designs to study its impact.

## Key findings

- Friction can mitigate issues like polarization and toxic content without censorship.
- A state space representation of friction offers a multidimensional analysis framework.
- Experimental designs are proposed to study friction's effects on user behavior and information ecosystems.

## Abstract

Social media platforms frequently prioritize efficiency to maximize ad revenue and user engagement, often sacrificing deliberation, trust, and reflective, purposeful cognitive engagement in the process. This manuscript examines the potential of friction—design choices that intentionally slow user interactions—as an alternate approach. We present a case against efficiency as the dominant paradigm on social media and advocate for a complex systems approach to understanding and analyzing friction. Drawing from interdisciplinary literature, real-world examples, and industry experiments, we highlight the potential for friction to mitigate issues like polarization, disinformation, and toxic content without resorting to censorship. We propose a state space representation of friction to establish a multidimensional framework and language for analyzing the diverse forms and functions through which friction can be implemented. Additionally, we propose several experimental designs to examine the impact of friction on system dynamics, user behavior, and information ecosystems, each designed with complex systems solutions and perspectives in mind. Our case against efficiency underscores the critical role of friction in shaping digital spaces, challenging the relentless pursuit of efficiency and exploring the potential of thoughtful slowing.