lena.molby.app/essays/against-the-infinite-scroll
Essay · The small web · Attention
Against the infinite scroll
A page should end. When it does, you get to decide what happens next.
A newspaper ends. A book ends. Even a long letter ends, usually with someone's name. The infinite scroll was the first reading surface in history designed never to end, and I think we underestimated what that would do to us.
An ending is a decision point. It is where you look up, notice the time, and choose. Remove it and the choice is made for you, one more item at a time.
On my own pages I put the ending back. Every essay finishes with a full stop, a date, and nothing urgent. If you want more there is an archive. But you have to want it.
Lena · 5 November 2023, Lisbon