In fairness - a lot of social networks "growth hacked" with similarly seedy techniques, right?
Does it make them any less of an asshole if someone else is also being an asshole? Not in my eyes.
Whenever someone acts like an asshole, I stop my dealings with them, avoid any interactions.
With humans, that means no longer talking with them, calling them, or messaging them.
With an online service, that means saving my data and deleting my account, never installing their app, never going to their website, creating a straight-to-trash filter for their email.
In both cases, I will share my knowledge about them close ones if it can save them some grief.
I was with you until this part. I have never seen praise of any large social network _or_ any growth-hacking dark patterns on HN.
And finally one accountant spoke up and asked (I paraphrase): You do realize we didn't become accountants because we like people?
When I heard about it, it made me think, you know, programmers sure are a lot like accountants.
Theory time: Perhaps my high karma is derived from all the other geeks realizing intrinsically I hate social networks as much as they do, so they upvote me in solidarity.
Thank you for your time!
They're online environments (aka media) for discussions (aka a form of social interactions).
"Social media" is just the mass market name for forums.
Edit:
I'm kind of flattered that someone created a new account just to nitpick a comment of mine :-))
Keep on keeping on, senormenor: https://xkcd.com/386/