> don't mislabel that "positive-feedback engine".

But it is a positive feedback loop in a technical sense. Think of a microphone providing sound to an amplifier, and that amplifier in turn providing amplified sound into the original microphone. It's self-reinforcing.

> What happens on Instagram if you vote dislike/ignore attention-bait clips and try to find longer-form (>10 minute) content, and use searches rather than feed?

The thing is, I don't want to be on Instagram. It's basically TV for me, and I'd rather not engage with content that way because it's passive and messes up my attention span. I already stare at a screen for eight hours a day for work, and I'd rather not have to spend any more time on screens than I have to.

It's in general very negative; it's only "positive feedback" in the ultra-narrow technical sense wrt reinforcing the compulsive behavior, which is negative to the user, negative to the user's wellbeing, friends, family, negative to society.

My analogy to reinforcing any other compulsive damaging behavior stands. It's not "positive feedback" to the dealer or casino.

Let us not let our words do the thinking for us, as Orwell cautioned.