Trapped in “the Zone”: How Attention-Capture Dark Patterns Induce Meaningless Normative Dissociation on Social Media

In this review paper, we synthesize human-computer interaction (HCI) and psychology research to identify how social media platform design leads to online experiences that reduce users’ wellbeing. Specifically, we show how design features known as attention-capture dark patterns induce meaningless normative dissociative states (i.e., zone states) in social media users instead of positive normative dissociative states (i.e., flow states). These dark patterns, and the zone states they promote, provide a possible explanation for the link between social media use and reduced user wellbeing that has, to date, received little attention in the HCI and broader information science, internet, and media studies literature. We present an explanatory model that illustrates how attention-capture dark patterns absorb users’ attention for extended periods of time yet simultaneously demand little physical or cognitive effort (i.e., low challenge and low skill), diminish user agency, and provide few intrinsic rewards. The result is a social media environment that induces prolonged states of normative dissociation in users but fails to support wellness-boosting flow. We review and evaluate digital wellbeing tools to help users break out of the zone, finding varying efficacy among these tools in limiting digital media use. We conclude that future research should investigate how social media design features could support flow states. This paper argues for a shift from the dominant digital wellbeing paradigm – which focuses on disconnection – to the alternative approach of redesigning social media platforms to promote users’ entrance into flow states: intrinsically rewarding experiences where users actively stretch their skills to match perceived challenges.