The Forced Action Dark Pattern
What is it?
A dark pattern that forces the user to perform a specific action to access a feature or complete a task. This often manifests as mandatory account creation, forced social sharing, or app-install walls.
Why it's harmful
It leverages the user's desire to access content by coercing them into giving up personal data or performing actions that benefit the platform rather than the user.
Example in the wild
"A user wants to read a public news article but a pop-up forces them to create an account or download the mobile app to read beyond the first paragraph."
How to fix it
Allow users to proceed as a guest, dismiss the prompt, or access the core functionality without mandatory data extortion.
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