Friction as a fix

Adding a little friction to experiences can help users slow down in those moments they may need to

Midjourney imagines an angry man using his mobile device — prompt by Robert Stribley

As designers, we often focus on removing as much friction as possible from experiences. That’s sensible. We want to avoid placing any hurdles before users as they pursue their goals online, whether that be, for example, buying a plane ticket, signing up for a streaming service, or subscribing to a newsletter.

Nonetheless, we’ve learned there are moments when it would prove helpful for users to slow down instead. No surprise, many of these moments arise on social media platforms.

One of the most famous examples of a moments when friction was removed from an experience to deleterious effect was when Twitter debuted the “retweet” feature in 2009. You may remember that before that, users would copy and paste a tweet into their own window, typing the letters “RT” in front of it to signify they were quoting someone else. Seems archaic now, huh? Famously, the developer who created the retweet function regrets it. In 2019, Chris Wetherell told BuzzFeed News, “We might have just handed a 4-year-old a loaded weapon.” Twitter’s former head of product Jason Goldman agreed. “The biggest problem is the quote retweet,” he said. “Quote retweet allows for the dunk. It’s the dunk mechanism.”

Twitter’s retweet function encouraged people to quickly republish content—which they may not have even read—to their followers in an instant. These dynamics have enabled not only an environment of misinformation, but also harassment, making it easier for Twitter’s users to engage in bullying and brigading. Hate-oriented accounts like LibsofTikTok capitalize on these dynamics to funnel outrage and hostility at members of the LGBTQIA community.

The current implementation of retweet functionality on X, formerly known as Twitter

Twitter did alter the retweet feature in the hopes of slowing users down a little. Now, instead of immediately retweeting content, you must choose between “Repost” (in the updated vernacular of “X”) or “Quoting,” which prompts you to add your own thoughts. If an article is included in the original post, you’re encouraged to read that, too. Twitter…