What happens when participation becomes the input we automate rather than the output we cultivate?
I just love how you think
> Not all friction is bad friction.
In case you haven't seen it, here is a link to an academic paper published in January 2026 titled, "The case against efficiency: friction in social media" that you might find interesting:
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12827046/
The authors present a state space representation of friction with three axes:
- Agency Reducing ↔ Agency Enhancing
- Visible ↔ Invisible
- Content-specific ↔ Content-agnostic
For example,
- "Prompting user to agree before posting disputed content" is categorized as Agency Enhancing, Visible, and Content-specific.
- A "'Circuit breaker' slowing the spread of content" is categorized as Agency Reducing, Invisible, and Content-agnostic.
I found the paper useful for a couple of reasons:
- It provides evidence from several domains of how small design decisions can change context.
- The dimensions of friction might help me think about productive friction with a bit more clarity.
Oh, I love academic papers. I wish I had more time to explore academic papers, so very much appreciate you dropping a link!
I dig the multi-dimensional approach you shared. Will go read up on it and come back to discuss.
I just love how you think
> Not all friction is bad friction.
In case you haven't seen it, here is a link to an academic paper published in January 2026 titled, "The case against efficiency: friction in social media" that you might find interesting:
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12827046/
The authors present a state space representation of friction with three axes:
- Agency Reducing ↔ Agency Enhancing
- Visible ↔ Invisible
- Content-specific ↔ Content-agnostic
For example,
- "Prompting user to agree before posting disputed content" is categorized as Agency Enhancing, Visible, and Content-specific.
- A "'Circuit breaker' slowing the spread of content" is categorized as Agency Reducing, Invisible, and Content-agnostic.
I found the paper useful for a couple of reasons:
- It provides evidence from several domains of how small design decisions can change context.
- The dimensions of friction might help me think about productive friction with a bit more clarity.
Oh, I love academic papers. I wish I had more time to explore academic papers, so very much appreciate you dropping a link!
I dig the multi-dimensional approach you shared. Will go read up on it and come back to discuss.