Are You Manipulated by Short Video Platforms? A Study on the Performance and Impact of “Dark Patterns”

This paper explores the phenomenon and impact of dark patterns on short video platforms such as TikTok. Dark patterns, like infinite scrolling, manipulative notifications, and disguised ads, aim at enhancing platform engagement by exploiting users’ psychology at the cost of user autonomy and well-being, which eventually leads to the benefit of the platforms, These manipulative designs harm multiple stakeholders including users, creators, advertisers and society as a whole, amplifying societal issues like privacy erosion and filter bubbles. In order to mitigate these influences and protect the users’ rights, this study advocates for regulatory measures such as cooling-off period, transparency in algorithm design which empower users to control these manipulative features.