108: Eko Chambers – Social Dilemmas & Brad on Eko Outdoors Podcast

Restless Native

It may surprise some of you to know that I grapple with social media’s impact on society, as well as the individual. When we first started building GoWild, I read books on the psychology of building a product that was sticky, as the industry calls it. I researched how to make an addictive product. That’s what the Silicon Valley road map for building an app said to do. But as I’ve come to see the impacts of the big players on society, I’ve realized and publicly acknowledged I don’t want to build the next time suck in your life. I’ve always maintained that, but it’s been even more of a focus for me over this year. If you’re an active member on GoWild, you may have noticed some differences in how we’re handling some of those typically addictive aspects of social media. We’re building in notifications that encourage you to help answer questions of people, we’re sharing trophies, which are generally really important moments in your friends’ lives. We’re empowering newbies and veterans alike to be able to tap into a community’s expertise instead of relying on marketing speak from manufacturers. We’re focused on delivering value. If that means you use GoWild once a week to get a question answered or share a highlight, instead of spending 15 minutes a day on the platform, that’s great. The more I’ve watched what’s happening on other platforms like Facebook and Instagram, the more I want to distance ourselves from traditional social media. Last week, I deleted my Instagram app, and already I can see my time on my phone going down. I’m going to share my caption for that last post.