A few years ago, I watched the documentary The Social Dilemma on Netflix. The message was powerful – social media companies all compete for our attention, keeping us on the screen with emotional content. The end goal? Keep us on screens long enough to make it as profitable as possible for their advertisers.
I definitely related – I often caught myself scrolling through post after post of content that boiled my blood. It turns out that such a social media feed is the goal, as it means more and more time spent on the platform.
As the documentary wound down, I was interested in what the filmmakers suggested as a solution. Their recommendation? Delete all social media apps.
Well… that doesn’t seem especially realistic, does it? I have had some incredibly positive experiences on social media along with the bad, and surely telling teenagers to simply uninstall their favorite social apps is not going to be all that convincing. I thought to myself – isn’t it more practical to help everyone be more aware and reflective about their social media feeds rather than banning the use of social media platforms?
Out of that goal, Doomscroll, our newest card game, was born. Doomscroll puts players in the driver’s seat of a fantasy world social media company. And yes, you guessed it – the company is named Doomscroll! Having players take on the role of the social media company provides a few opportunities for both engaging gameplay and skill building.
For starters, players must employ the same practices as social media platforms in order to win the game. Want to sell ads? Drop some engaging posts into the feed that either tug at a user’s interests OR gets them emotionally reacting. Need to boost the impact of posts? Highlight a Troll reply or a Reshare from an influential person.
Beyond just incendiary posts and heated replies, players can also recruit high-powered figures like politicians, CEOs, and sports personalities to their platforms in order to gain bonuses. Just like in real life, social media companies appeal to important people in order to attract attention or curry favor.
All of these strategies make for an interesting and competitive game, but they also lead to some really intriguing perspectives and discussions. After the game, it’s my hope that players reflect on how what they did in the game mirrors what they see in social media feeds of their own. Hopefully players realize when a social media platform is getting them emotionally riled up. Hopefully players notice that they’re being fed topics meant to nudge them towards a targeted ad. And hopefully players catch when a company bends over backwards to please an influential person rather than sticking to their principles.
With Doomscroll, we hope to contribute to healthy use of social media – achieved through a fun and engaging game night!