Really interested in the pressures that web products put on us when we use them, whether implicitly or explicitly.

Notably absent here are Facebook, Pinterest, and no doubt several hundred others.

What else? Do you disagree with calling them pressures? When do they work as forcing functions for user behavior, and when do they break + create anxiety?

Devan just suggested that blogs put pressure on you to be productive.

Thanks for adding me! I may be departing somewhat from your intended sense of "online product," but I do think the declining caché of blogging has to do with the growing notion that it's for an elite few who have the chance to churn out several lengthy posts each day.

Once upon a time, I think that was what made for a successful blog, but things like Twitter and Tumblr have, oddly enough, made it easier to get lots of attention for a single blog post.

I guess I'd also suggest that all these pressures derive from one's own communities on them as well as from the products' own structures. For example, I feel more pressure to be witty on Instagram than pretty, because it's just all my Twitter-folk hanging out there, too. Can't let 'em down!

I think pressure is accurate. When @devan_ says blogs put pressure to be more productive, do you mean having your own blog puts pressure on yourself to be more productive? And why would that be a reason they're declining? I'm not getting the connection there.

That's right Dylan. I meant that having a blog creates a pressure to produce quite a bit of content, at least for some people, perhaps many.

Some years ago—right before blogging lost some of its status to newcomers like Twitter and Tumblr with arguably lower barriers to entry—you might say it was conventional wisdom that the only successful blogs were those with frequent substantive posts. It was dead wrong, but it was an idea that I remember seeing quite a lot of in the mid-aughts, and I think it's still around.

I think one reason blogging has declined is because it's hard to meet such comparatively high expectations when so many of the same needs—connection, sharing, discovery—can be met so much more easily on the short-form platforms.

Yes. And I think it goes both ways. You put pressure on yourself to be more X, but it's as a function of the social dynamics that these services set up you through product design.

This raises an interesting point related to goal setting and communicating "success scenarios" to users. Perhaps Jason has something to add about this re: follower counts and Twitter, if that point hasn't been too belabored elsewhere :)

Our designer co-founder Cemre just mentioned that Facebook puts pressure on you to be the "popular girl in high school."

Follower counts certainly proved distorting in a way that probably was ultimately beneficial for the company. But it meant that at every scale of the company, people were trying to "win." Which lead to some obsessive behavior.

Basically people will always try to top the scoreboard once you give them one.

I think that's the right sentiment about blogs, Devan. Though I'd argue that Tumblr's "<3" button shifts the pressure to producing high quality content from just a generally high volume of content. Moreover, since most of your blog traffic will come from social services it's not as important to post with hyper-regularity because very few people are going to your blog directly anyway.

Libby, I do think you're right about services creating social pressure to be witty, smart, etc. but that's part of the natural pressure present in any social environment.

The question for me is: When does that anxiety become too much? When is it unmanageable for your average person?

The question I have is - how is that different from real life - I mean I feel pressure to be witty in conversation, with people normally - could it be that we just project our pressure or accept that pressure onto these services depending on how our personalities normally respond

I will agree with Devan that there are some services with lower barriers to entry and allows for more browsers than contributors - i do feel pressure to create content most days or at least regularly because i feel that people will judge my blog or site if it isn't up to date. This seems more a function of standing alone on your site vs in a feed on twitter where you are part of the crowd and the goals might be different (standing out vs. fading back)