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Infinite scroll often make it nearly impossible to click on the site's privacy policy or terms of service in the page footer without going into dev tools. Whene

Infinite scroll often make it nearly impossible to click on the site's privacy policy or terms of service in the page footer without going into dev tools. Whenever I come across that issue I wonder whether it's a feature or a bug.

madeofpalk 6y ago
Does this actually happen frequently?
- FR10 6y ago
  I have this happened to me several times but I wouldn't say its frequent, nowadays most sites show 3-4 extra pages then show the "see more" button.
- saagarjha 6y ago
  More often then I'd like–anecdotally, about once a month or so.
- stordoff 6y ago
  I've tried to get to a contact link in the footer and been hindered by infinite scrolling on more than one occasion. I wouldn't say it happens a lot, but when it does it's frustrating.
SilasX 6y ago
Yes, they also have the problem that they (are usually implemented in such a way that they) break the back button[1] and make it so you can't easily jump to a well-defined block of the results you know you haven't seen. I also see them frequently have a bug where they'll just keep cycling through the same first page-equivalent of results. [1] If you click a result and then hit back, it usually just reloads the page and starts you from the beginning. I think the function of a back button changed at some point. It used to be that "back" was always instant and took you to the exact state of the page before you clicked a link. Now, there's a huge lag on all but the most minimal sites (like HN) and some reload of something gets triggered.
- strbean 6y ago
  Not to mention the total lack of affordances for "I want to see this something from 2 years ago" in most implementations. Usually even the back end works on a "last ID" cursor system, so even savvy users can't jump back. Holding the end key for 10 minutes is not fun.
  - SilasX 6y ago
    Yeah, I (perhaps because of masochism) click on links to Quora answers I see in my email digest, and it will me to the answer within an infiniscroll page. If I follow any link and click back ... the answer is gone. I have to go back to my email again and get it from there if I want to see it again. It almost seems like, beyond a very low threshold, UX gets worse as you throw more engineers at it.
    - strbean 6y ago
      > Yeah, I (perhaps because of masochism) click on links to Quora answers I see in my email digest Hey, it's better than clicking through the Medium digest and getting your 10th consecutive "you can use a switch statement instead of a bunch of if statements" article written by someone in week 2 of their bootcamp. :(
      - strbean 6y ago
        Update: Since I made this comment, I have gotten a "don't use if/else" article on my Medium digest... every single day.

madeofpalk 6y ago

Does this actually happen frequently?

FR10 6y ago
I have this happened to me several times but I wouldn't say its frequent, nowadays most sites show 3-4 extra pages then show the "see more" button.
saagarjha 6y ago
More often then I'd like–anecdotally, about once a month or so.
stordoff 6y ago
I've tried to get to a contact link in the footer and been hindered by infinite scrolling on more than one occasion. I wouldn't say it happens a lot, but when it does it's frustrating.

SilasX 6y ago

Yes, they also have the problem that they (are usually implemented in such a way that they) break the back button[1] and make it so you can't easily jump to a well-defined block of the results you know you haven't seen. I also see them frequently have a bug where they'll just keep cycling through the same first page-equivalent of results. [1] If you click a result and then hit back, it usually just reloads the page and starts you from the beginning. I think the function of a back button changed at some point. It used to be that "back" was always instant and took you to the exact state of the page before you clicked a link. Now, there's a huge lag on all but the most minimal sites (like HN) and some reload of something gets triggered.

strbean 6y ago
Not to mention the total lack of affordances for "I want to see this something from 2 years ago" in most implementations. Usually even the back end works on a "last ID" cursor system, so even savvy users can't jump back. Holding the end key for 10 minutes is not fun.
- SilasX 6y ago
  Yeah, I (perhaps because of masochism) click on links to Quora answers I see in my email digest, and it will me to the answer within an infiniscroll page. If I follow any link and click back ... the answer is gone. I have to go back to my email again and get it from there if I want to see it again. It almost seems like, beyond a very low threshold, UX gets worse as you throw more engineers at it.
  - strbean 6y ago
    > Yeah, I (perhaps because of masochism) click on links to Quora answers I see in my email digest Hey, it's better than clicking through the Medium digest and getting your 10th consecutive "you can use a switch statement instead of a bunch of if statements" article written by someone in week 2 of their bootcamp. :(
    - strbean 6y ago
      Update: Since I made this comment, I have gotten a "don't use if/else" article on my Medium digest... every single day.