Bad Incentives Make Bad Systems, Good Ones Can Change Everything

“Hate in the Time of Algorithms”, a new study by Cornell University, found that when social platforms stopped ranking posts by engagement, exposure to toxic content dropped by 27%.

The experiment used the same users, the same content, and the same conversations. The only difference was a randomized feed instead of one optimized for engagement.

Same people. Same platform. Completely different outcome.

It’s not human nature that changed. It’s the incentive system.

If you’re like me, you’ve had your fair share of doomscrolling nights, telling yourself it’s just a quick break, and suddenly it’s an hour later.

You close the app and feel... tired. Not informed, not inspired, just drained.

That’s not because we enjoy it. It’s because the system is built that way.

Most feeds optimize for engagement velocity, the quickest path to a reaction.

The stronger the emotion, the better it performs.

The faster it spreads, the more it’s rewarded.

What makes it harmful or healthy depends entirely on what the system is rewarding.

If you build a system that rewards how something makes people feel instantly, like shock, envy, or laughter, you’ll get high-calorie, low-nutrition content.

That’s not because creators are bad or audiences are broken.

It’s because the system rewards what grabs attention, not what grows it.

But incentives are design choices, not laws of nature.

AI is about to speed up the entire creation cycle by a thousand times.

We’ll be able to generate, remix, and publish faster than ever.

The question is: will we use that power to multiply noise or meaning?

I’m optimistic.

Because if we can design systems that reward learning, exploration, and contribution, not just engagement, we can make the next generation of platforms better than the last.

The same tools that made the internet addictive can make it inspiring.

The reality is, existing platforms won’t change this because doing so would mean rewriting their entire business model.

What’s needed is a ground-up redesign built from first principles, where progress, discovery, and genuine curiosity are the core incentives from day one.

That’s what we’re solving with Up My Mojo.

If this resonates, I’d love to connect and hear your perspective.