Agreed - interesting follow-up question to look into!

This project was a collaborative effort between 46 authors. Thanks to @lorenzspreen.bsky.social @ruggeri.bsky.social @sarahaj95.bsky.social @sofiapelica.bsky.social and many more!

Our findings highlight a clear preference for more individual control in online spaces. This desire for autonomy may help explain the rising popularity of platforms like BlueSky, which prioritize user empowerment.

... which can be explained by differences in preferences depending on political orientation.

Context matters: In choice architecture scenarios involving social media feeds and follow suggestions, people strongly prefer individual control.
This is not the case in news labeling ...

We looked into individual-level factors: preferences for the different choice architects differ based on individual factors such as trust and risk perception of social media platforms.

Regarding the objective of the choice architecture design (commercial, societal, or personal), people largely oppose online environments being organized for commercial purposes.

We find a clear consensus for more individual regulation, though preferences for governmental or commercial regulation vary by country.

Participants were asked to choose between scenarios that included different choice architects: governmental, commercial, or individual.