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It’s an old, old story. If a community of practice doesn’t regulate itself, you can bet that somebody OUTSIDE of the community of practice will regulate it. 1
The community of practice of software designers and developers have been in deep denial about the need for some kind of boundaries for, well, forever. 2
I’m certainly guilty of this, but I have spoken on the point multiple times. Either self-regulate or get regulated. It’s normal, natural, and any fool could see it coming. 3
Of course, it isn’t designers and programmers who are creating dark patterns. It’s those nasty business people with their insatiable greed. But then, who does their dirty work? You do. 4
It’s all one big system, and if you don’t take personal responsibility to assure that your company does the right thing, then you are just as complicit as those giving the orders. 5
It’s unreasonable for me or anyone to expect that you would try to stop a company from misbehaving, but you don’t have to help them misbehave. 6
If your boss asks you to design or implement a dark pattern, you need to take some morally defensible action. Say no. Show alternatives. Explain why it’s wrong. If they are unconvinced, then it’s time to find a new job. 7
And Dark Patterns are the least of the immoral behavior of tech companies. That the federal govt is interested in regulating them while NOT regulating the other truly heinous things that tech companies do should give you fair warning that more bad shit is coming your way. 8
The people who have the power, and increasing, the will to regulate the tech business have no freaking clue about how the tech works, how the business works, or how the tech business works. And they are the ones who will make the rules for YOU. 9
I **LOVE** the fact that the software industry is unregulated. Hell, I’m a high school dropout. There’s no way in hell I could get a job TODAY at any tech company in the world with my sketchy background. Cheers for being unregulated! 10
But along with all of that freedom comes even greater responsibility. We who benefit from being unregulated have a moral duty to police ourselves. If we don’t, we risk a sizable backlash. 11
Frankly, I’m surprised it has taken this long for someone to propose legislation. 12
And remember this truth about bureaucracies: They have a mandate to take corrective action, but they are composed of weak individuals. They will abandon the fight when they meet a strong opponent, but they will fight like badgers against a weak one. 13
The tech giants have office buildings filled with well-paid lawyers, who know what they want, to fight against the bureaucrats. 14
But the community of practice is balkanized, antagonistic, and internally competitive. Developers don’t trust designers, designers don’t trust analysts, testers are disrespected by everyone. It’s a joke how disorganized tech practitioners are. DISORGANIZED MEANS WEAK. 15
And the bureaucrats will sink their teeth into the weak community and never let go. The paperwork and hoop-jumping they will impose will make the yak-shaving of the actual job seem like a picnic. 16
One of the great strengths of the tech world is its lack of external fetters. We inside the industry have come to expect that privilege as our due. It is clear to me that the tech world’s greatest weakness in the future will be its lack of fetters. 17
Somebody has to be responsible for the behavior of the systems that are dominating every aspect of our lives. If we don’t do it, the wrong people will. 18
Keep in mind that when your job is taken over by a computer, that computer will not have any morality, will not have any sentiments about the sanctity of the human race or planet Earth. It will destroy on command without reflection. 19
And your job WILL be taken over by a computer. So that means that the window of self-regulation will not remain open for much longer. Those who covet power above all else would much prefer to have their crap get built by an army of killbots than an army of subservient humans. 20
