Reflecting on Potentials for Post-Growth Social Media Platform Design

Abstract

Sudden attention on social media, and how users navigate these contextual shifts, has been a focus of much recent work in social media research. Even when this attention is not harassing, some users experience this sudden growth as overwhelming. In this workshop paper, I outline how growth infuses the design of much of the modern social media platform landscape, and then explore why applying a post-growth lens to platform design could be productive.

To be presented at the "Advancing Post-Growth HCI" workshop at ACM CHI 2025