Zynga has been driven by metrics too, their strategy being to exploit human psychology in order to get people addicted and to pay money for in-game purchases. T

Zynga has been driven by metrics too, their strategy being to exploit human psychology in order to get people addicted and to pay money for in-game purchases. There's a whole science behind it. Basically those games feed the people's compulsion for completing tasks in return for some reward, with an ever present illusion that the game might get fun after you gain some experience or virtual coin. And the interesting part is that fun is antithetical to the company's purpose, because if the game is too much fun, then people aren't inclined to pay. And in 2010 Zynga was on a roll, predicting doom for the gaming industry as we knew it, yet look at where they are now. In other words, that mythical algorithm for Facebook's feed that you're describing is probably not about making people happy or serving their interests. I used to like Facebook, but my stream is getting worse and worse as I see more and more pictures of babies of strangers in my news feed, related to what my "friends" "liked", not to mention being exposed to opinions so stupid that I lose faith in mankind. There's no way of stopping this stream of things from strangers that I don't want. And their analysis of my preferences seems to be completely useless, as I keep getting news items on subjects I'm actively deleting from my stream, but who knows, maybe this algorithm is trying hard to elicit an emotional response from me. By Facebook's metrics I'm more active than ever. Heck, if HN had metrics it would count me as a satisfied member judging by the intense activity I'm having. Count the words in this comment, this is what true engagement looks like. Yet I'm more dissatisfied than ever. And in particular for Facebook, just as with its symbiotic partner Zynga, I'm predicting a future in which people will realize that Facebook is not making them happy. I know I have, my account being currently deactivated, in what I call a trial separation, pending deletion. Also, in case you're going to say that I'm not the target demographic, well that's what people said about Google+, the nymwars and forcing YouTube users to join, with Google+ being exactly what you get when you bring in Facebook's crap without having a network effect.