4 ms·

I'm glad we now have a name for this. If I may take a stab at a more formal, reusable definition of the Fuck You pattern: A UI pattern whereby content a user

I'm glad we now have a name for this. If I may take a stab at a more formal, reusable definition of the Fuck You pattern: A UI pattern whereby content a user wants is provided, then yanked away before it can be consumed, to be replaced by a demand for something the site wants (log in, sign up, subscribe, pay, etc). It's distinct from merely providing a limited amount of content in the first place, as when a site offers 3 articles for free before requiring payment.

SavantIdiot 5y ago
Great, now my boss is going to ask me to implement this. Thanks.
- xmprt 5y ago
  Hopefully if we call it what it is and keep the name "Fuck You" pattern, any boss that wants to implement it will realize how user hostile it is. More likely, the MBAs figure out a more colorful name for it and every single app on the planet starts to have it.
EamonnMR 5y ago
Appwall? Subscribewall? Mailwall?
- e12e 5y ago
  Millwall? A wall that wears you down until you comply?
  - Y_Y 5y ago
    That's already the name of a a soccer team[2] with the motto "No one likes us and we don't care"[3]. How poetic. [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millwall_F.C https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millwall_F.C. [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_one_likes_us,_we_don%27t_care https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_one_likes_us,_we_don%27t_ca...
abraae 5y ago
Maybe that should be the Yanker pattern, since there are certainly many more scummy behaviours that merit the Fuck You label.
- caf 5y ago
  I suggest the Lucy pattern (as in the football running gag from Peanuts).
  - thedailymail 5y ago
    Tantalus pattern?
  - rossdavidh 5y ago
    Brilliant name. We have a winner.
  - scythmic_waves 5y ago
    Oh, good reference! I like "Peanuts Pattern" myself.
    - caf 5y ago
      Somehow Charles M. Schulz managed to perfectly capture the feeling of following a pinterest link from a search result, half a century before pinterest existed.
RandyRanderson 5y ago
unless you're logged in, pinterest is only this, has some searches essentially 'SE-Owned' and has been doing this for ~7 years. They're the OG of this. Pinttern?
dash488 5y ago
Twitters new-ish feed refresh with out ask on mobile is a good example of this. While reading a tweet your feed will refresh shoving you anywhere between 10 and 100 tweets up on your feed. If I really wanted to see what I am reading I have to scroll back down through my already witnessed feed.
zorrolovsky 5y ago
Very well articulated. It's the digital equivalent of emotional blackmail.

SavantIdiot 5y ago

Great, now my boss is going to ask me to implement this. Thanks.

xmprt 5y ago
Hopefully if we call it what it is and keep the name "Fuck You" pattern, any boss that wants to implement it will realize how user hostile it is. More likely, the MBAs figure out a more colorful name for it and every single app on the planet starts to have it.

EamonnMR 5y ago

Appwall? Subscribewall? Mailwall?

e12e 5y ago
Millwall? A wall that wears you down until you comply?
- Y_Y 5y ago
  That's already the name of a a soccer team[2] with the motto "No one likes us and we don't care"[3]. How poetic. [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millwall_F.C https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millwall_F.C. [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_one_likes_us,_we_don%27t_care https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_one_likes_us,_we_don%27t_ca...

abraae 5y ago

Maybe that should be the Yanker pattern, since there are certainly many more scummy behaviours that merit the Fuck You label.

caf 5y ago
I suggest the Lucy pattern (as in the football running gag from Peanuts).
- thedailymail 5y ago
  Tantalus pattern?
- rossdavidh 5y ago
  Brilliant name. We have a winner.
- scythmic_waves 5y ago
  Oh, good reference! I like "Peanuts Pattern" myself.
  - caf 5y ago
    Somehow Charles M. Schulz managed to perfectly capture the feeling of following a pinterest link from a search result, half a century before pinterest existed.

RandyRanderson 5y ago

unless you're logged in, pinterest is only this, has some searches essentially 'SE-Owned' and has been doing this for ~7 years. They're the OG of this. Pinttern?

dash488 5y ago

Twitters new-ish feed refresh with out ask on mobile is a good example of this. While reading a tweet your feed will refresh shoving you anywhere between 10 and 100 tweets up on your feed. If I really wanted to see what I am reading I have to scroll back down through my already witnessed feed.

zorrolovsky 5y ago

Very well articulated. It's the digital equivalent of emotional blackmail.