Lemmy is definitely addictive but when comparing it to algorithm oriented platforms, we are basically comparing alcohol to cocaine. Both addictive but one way more than the other.

operating on the same principles

… Which are, by design, addictive.

The upvote/downvote system particularly.

You get a rush every time your comment or post goes into the 3 digits in upvotes, be honest.

You don’t need a sophisticated algorithm to have an addictive design either. All you need is for your home feed to give you more of what you want, which is what your subscribed tab does by default.

Lastly, the “ingroup/outgroup” psychological trigger lemmy induces you into (which was copied from Reddit), is also in itself highly engaging.

Literally anything can be addictive. Humans love pressing the dopamine button. The features that Lemmy has which are shared with other social media platforms can definitely increase the addictive potential.

Bro I was literally doomscrolling when I came upon your post, Lemmy definitely is addicting.

I guess we disagree a bit then. Don’t get me wrong - I’m not condemning Lemmy. I think it’s extremely valuable in democratising social media. And it functions brilliantly for communication and sharing knowledge. I’m just saying that a side-effect of its functionality is that it’s also addictive. For example I believe that there users who log in, help each other troubleshoot problems growing their tomatoes and then log out, but at the same time there are users who are passively consuming content from the feed way past their bedtime. There are even memes here about it.