Assignment 1: Social Media Needfinding

1. Interview Plan

My Interest/Hunch

• Currently lots of social silo, eco-chambers, where people are seeing only what they are fed by the algorithm

• Polarization becomes a result of social media algorithm Lack of diverse perspective, where users are rarely exposed to differing opinions

• Opaque Algorithm: there is no way to manually influence the algorithm or train it

• Lack of filter: Generalist content

• News, friends, entertainment, ads, education, EVERYTHING is stacked in one continuous feed, feed within feed, literal rabbit holes

• Limited authentic social interaction

• Passive engagement (likes and views)

• Content doesn’t promote DM

Who Should I interview?

People from different professions, political background, demographics, and ages who uses social media to get information People who feel stuck in their echo chamber People would are curious and empathetic, and who searches for more connection One who uses only one and one who uses multiple platforms

Interview questions brainstorm

Personal Background

• Tell me a bit about yourself. Where are you from, and what do you do? How do you stay informed and connected with the world around you?

Social Media Usage

• Do you use social media as a source of information (news, hobbies, professional content, tutorials)? If yes, which platforms do you frequent? Can you describe your overall experience with social media? What aspects do you enjoy the most, and what frustrates you?
• What kinds of content do you actively engage with (e.g., posts, stories, messages, comments)? When during the day do you usually find yourself using social media? Does it vary depending on what you're looking for?

Control & Algorithms

• Do you feel in control of the content you see on social media, or do you feel it’s more dictated by algorithms?
• Are you aware of how social media platforms suggest content to you? How do you feel about those suggestions?
• Have you ever noticed someone else receiving different content or perspectives on the same platform? How did that affect your experience?

Content & Perspectives

• Do you think social media shows you a wide range of perspectives? Have there been times where you felt isolated in a certain type of content or opinion?
• Have you ever sought out opposing viewpoints or content that challenges your own beliefs? If yes, how do you usually go about finding it?
• If you had more control over the algorithm or the type of content that is shown to you, what would you change?

Exploring Solutions

• If you could redesign social media to expose people to more diverse perspectives, how would you approach it?
• Do you think social media contributes to polarization? How do you think that could be improved?
• What features or tools could help you explore differing opinions or break out of your content “bubble”?

2. Interview

Raw notes

1

• Diverse background: Born in Turkey, city near Istanbul, studied architecture, played violin, sing Jazz, design tech, recent Harvard grad, now works at Samsung Stays connected via: Whatsapp, text, instagram, Youtube addict (more than instagram), like social media to stay connected with people back home, family
• Content types: likes staying connected with world, watch news, many instagram models, different people, using social media apps, Spotify for podcasts, Started with Facebook, but stuck with Instagram, never used Tiktok Youtube videos Feels overwhelmed when there is too many apps, so likes to keep the list small One app solution would also be overwhelming Too many apps to “keep up with”, spends a lot of time on Instagram already I Think both Instagram and Tiktok are for fast media consumption, like fast food. “I feel like instagram is already demanding a lot of time from me, I feel almost helpless.”
• Good things about social media: Directly think of Youtube, listen to mediation, follow yoga videos Have met people in real life from followed channel Likes long format Instagram is a decompressing tool Keeping up with the world, especially when it relates to Turkey or friends Look up to people, for lifestyle inspiration “They almost feel like friends” Give you an “alive” “online” feeling, everything is in realtime
• Bad things: “Algorithm is a rabbit hole, and I am definitely in the rabbit hole and I am in weird spectrums of the rabbit hole.” Watches makeup tutorials in weird times, before bed to decompress, but 100% not she wants to see during the day Sick of instagram recommending makeup gurus during the day Wishes for more art and design content to be recommended despite having already followed many “They are my trashiest moments and the algorithm keeps showing me those” Compared to Youtube, the recommendation is based on search, not attention
• Wants: Instagram for decompressing and be lazy, and instagram for inspiration “I don’t know how to break the algorithm” Doesn't feel comfortable sharing screens because of how private the suggestions are. “I want instagram to show me what I want to become, not what I watch, and it makes me feel like it's what I am, but it’s not.” Want it to be malleable, something that I can bend, and discover, like space discovery, new interests. Knows some other people have good feed, wants to have a selective portion of what they have
• Ways of finding fresh content: Search directly A filter system, so people don’t have to hunt for tags, or strategies to find good content, too much work for instagram
• Engagement style: Save A LOT Horrible saving folders, Wish there is a better archival system “Instagram for me is, what can I keep?” Started sub categorizing things, with the “hopes of one day it could serve me… that one day i’ll need to look back at it,i’ll need to remember this.”

2

• Diverse background: lives in China, Manages factory and company finance Content types: : News content: Watches morning and evening news on TV, uses some Chinese news website (Tecent news, Sina News), some tiktok, some on Wechat (subscribed newsletter, if the heading looks interest, then click in to read more) More social is on Wechat
• Bad things: Chinese news all about the heading, annoying sometimes the content doesn’t match the heading Tiktok news, has a lot of useless buffer content in informative content, waste time, like ads or clickbait, just want to extract useful news
• Algorithm: Gets a lot of finance content and lots of war/politics stuff Sometimes get fed up watching the same things
• Ways of finding fresh content: Uses a search engine to search so stuff up, then all the content changes after, search stuff deliberately to change the recommendation algorithm
• Thoughts: Change the algorithm to include a small portion of randomness, force feed some opposite viewpoints Tiktok recommends 100% your interest, and it gets stuck on one thing Some sort of content category percentage control From time to time, a check in with user to survey new interest/developing interest, let user to adjust/fine tune the percentage of content Frequent interaction/ check in with the platform to update
• Knowing other people’s interest/algorithm: Wechat shows how many of your friends also read an article Incentive for you to check out as well, if many friends also read it Maybe make someone’s content consumption searchable, but might have some privacy concerns But everyone has a certain desire to stalk people online Might not be a good idea

Interview Report

Interview 1

In this interview, the participant, in her mid twenties, grew up in Turkey and now is working in the US, shared her experience with social media and content consumption. With a diverse background in architecture, music, design, and coming from multiple cultures, she stays connected to friends, family, and the broader world through platforms like WhatsApp, Instagram, YouTube, and Spotify. A striking quote from the conversation was, “I feel like Instagram is already demanding a lot of time from me. I feel almost helpless”. Additionally expressing frustration with the algorithm, saying, "I don’t know how to break the algorithm." The participant feels trapped in Instagram’s "rabbit hole" algorithm, often being shown irrelevant makeup tutorials during the day, which she only watches before bed to decompress. She described these contents as her "trashiest," complaining that the algorithm keeps resurfacing them during the day, making her uncomfortable sharing her screen due to the private nature of the recommendations. Despite following numerous art and design accounts, they are frustrated by the lack of related recommendations. In contrast, they appreciate YouTube's recommendation system, which is based more on search than on passive attention. Ideally, she envisions a malleable and intuitive content discovery system where she can shape to discover new interests, much like space exploration. She also admires others' well-curated feeds and wishes she could selectively incorporate aspects of their content. She wants Instagram to reflect who she aspires to be rather than what she passively consumes. Additionally, she struggles with Instagram’s saving feature, finding the archival system difficult to manage, and wishes for a more intuitive way to organize saved content.

Interview 2

In this interview, the participant, who is in his mid fifties, manages a factory and company finances in China, shared their experiences with content consumption and algorithmic recommendations. He primarily consumes news through a combination of traditional (morning and evening news on TV) and digital platforms like Tencent News, Sina News, and WeChat newsletters. One major frustration he expressed was the prevalence of misleading headlines, where the content often fails to deliver on the promise of the title. He also voiced annoyance with "useless buffer content," such as ads or clickbait, that disrupt the flow of informative content on platforms like TikTok. He simply wants to access useful information quickly and move on.

He also feels overwhelmed by the repetitive finance and political content in his feeds, particularly on TikTok, which tend to lock users into narrow content loops. What stood out was the participant’s active effort to break free from algorithmic content silos by using search engines to deliberately reset their recommendation feed. He suggested that platforms could improve by introducing more randomness in recommendations, allowing users to control the percentage of content from different categories, or scheduling check-ins for users to update their interests. Additionally, an interesting behavior he exhibited was actively checking how many of his friends had already read a particular news article. This social cue motivates him to read the full article, serving as a way to stay relevant and passively connected with his friends.

3. Design Opportunities

1. Moods/Personalities: Give users more control over their content algorithms by allowing them to switch between different modes (e.g., "decompression" vs. "inspiration"). This would let users adjust what they see based on their mood or time of day, while also addressing privacy concerns when sharing their screen in public or private spaces where they don’t want certain interests or moods exposed.

2. Recommendation Customization: Allow users to adjust the percentage of content from various categories or remove content types they find uncomfortable or irrelevant. This customization would address frustrations with repetitive content and empower users to curate a feed that reflects their true interests and aspirations.

3. Randomization: Introduce more randomness in content recommendations to help users escape algorithmic "rabbit holes." Users could choose to inject new categories or opposing viewpoints into their feed, offering fresh perspectives and breaking away from narrow content loops.

4. Social Glimpses: Develop a feature that lets users explore and selectively incorporate content from the curated feeds of friends or influencers. This would create a more communal and social way to discover content, offering a new digital space for sharing and engagement.

5. Better Archival System: Redesign the saving and organization features on platforms like Instagram to make it easier for users to categorize, revisit, and retrieve saved content. A more intuitive archival system would enhance the user experience and provide greater long-term value for stored content.