Illuminating muscle memory's sinister side: a social media case study

Mariliza Kontogeorgou, Christof van Nimwegen*, Alkim Almila Akdag Salah

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

When a task is repeated, it becomes part of procedural memory. This type of memory dedicated to movement is called ‘muscle memory’, which allows one to perform actions unconsciously. Within the context of social media, muscle memory builds up if one uses SM applications frequently. In this paper, we investigate the effects of muscle memory within Instagram, and report the following findings: We designed a user study examining the speed and accuracy of using a newly changed interface which showed slower reaction time and more errors. Combining these results with users' perceived feelings lead us to conclude that in specific UX interface changes muscle memory can be applied as a dark pattern.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1752-1757
Number of pages6
JournalBehaviour and Information Technology
Volume43
Issue number9
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2024

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

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