Roaming South America

Dark Patterns - the Modern Internet Part 8

February 18, 2026

Have you ever wondered, Why can't websites be built in a way that actually works properly, makes sense, and are truly useful? For example: Facebook (full of problems - I'm logged in, of course, and looking at my profile page and I used the search to find, for example, all posts with "Marx" - searching for Groucho Marx quote-memes. There are 5 of them. There they are, fully visible, in all their glory, and a 3-button hamburger menu. Oh, but what is that? A menu with only one option? Does that qualify as a menu? Not in my opinion. That one option is to save the post. So, if I want to delete the post I'm looking at, I have to click the post to look at the same post in another view, then I get a menu with many options. Why can't they just put that menu on the previous view of the post? Seriously, building a working website is not rocket science.

Ha! Welcome to the modern web, where billion-dollar companies somehow still can't design a menu that behaves like...you know...a menu.

The thing is, these sites could be built sensibly. They just aren't. And it's not because the engineers don't know how, it's because the entire product philosophy of Big Web is, well, dumb by design.

PART 7 — How to Build Your Own Website 100% Free of Dark Patterns

This is where you get to be the anti–Big Tech.

You can build sites that are:

• clean
• honest
• functional
• user-friendly
• respectful

Here’s the blueprint.

1. Transparency Over Trickery

   Make every control visible and available:

   • consistent menus
   • no hidden options
   • no different UI for identical actions
   • no duplicated paths leading nowhere

   If the user wants to delete something, let them delete it.

2. Stop the Infinite Scroll Madness

   Pagination or “Load More” buttons give users control.

   • No hypnosis loops.
   • No time dilation.
   • No “where did my afternoon go?”
3. Make Navigation Predictable

   Every view should have:

   • the same menu
   • the same actions
   • the same structure

   Users shouldn’t feel like they stepped into a different building.

4. No Notification Nagging

   Don’t:

   • pop up alerts every few minutes
   • use fake “unread” badges
   • show meaningless “updates”

   Your users will love you for respecting their mental space.

5. Keep Privacy Choices Honest

   Don’t bury settings.

   Put “Accept All” and “Reject All” right next to each other - same size, same font, same visibility.

   • Never Auto-Opt Users In

   No:

   • auto-subscribes
   • auto-updates
   • auto-tracking
   • auto-email lists

   Let users choose. Shocking, I know.

6. Eliminate Loops and Dead Ends
   • If a button is visible, it should work.
   • If a path exists, it should lead somewhere logical.

   No hall-of-mirrors.

   • Speed Over Stickiness

   Your goal is usefulness, not addiction.

   Make pages:

   • fast
   • direct
   • intuitive

   The user shouldn’t feel trapped or nudged.

7. Let Users Leave (for real)

   Provide:

   • easy logout
   • easy delete
   • easy unsubscribe
   • no shame messages
   • no guilt
   • no multi-step emotional torture
8. Serve the User, Not the Algorithm

   Your website should do what you want it to do:

   • deliver content
   • showcase stories
   • help readers
   • organize information

   Not trick, trap, or manipulate.

Final Note

If you put these principles into practice on your site(s), whether they be travel blogs, writing blogs, quotes blogs, photography, hotel, restaurant, or anything else - you’ll immediately stand apart from 99% of the web.

Users notice honesty.

Because they see almost none of it anymore.

I hope you enjoyed the series "Dark Patterns - the Modern Internet"

If you missed any of the installments you can go back to whichever you want, they're all here on my website, one per week for 8 weeks now.