this post was submitted on 03 Mar 2026
178 points (95.9% liked)

Showerthoughts

40875 readers
1168 users here now

A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. The most popular seem to be lighthearted clever little truths, hidden in daily life.

Here are some examples to inspire your own showerthoughts:

Rules

  1. All posts must be showerthoughts
  2. The entire showerthought must be in the title
  3. No politics
    • If your topic is in a grey area, please phrase it to emphasize the fascinating aspects, not the dramatic aspects. You can do this by avoiding overly politicized terms such as "capitalism" and "communism". If you must make comparisons, you can say something is different without saying something is better/worse.
    • A good place for politics is c/politicaldiscussion
  4. Posts must be original/unique
  5. Adhere to Lemmy's Code of Conduct and the TOS

If you made it this far, showerthoughts is accepting new mods. This community is generally tame so its not a lot of work, but having a few more mods would help reports get addressed a little sooner.

Whats it like to be a mod? Reports just show up as messages in your Lemmy inbox, and if a different mod has already addressed the report, the message goes away and you never worry about it.

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

It's clearly a dark pattern thought up by shitbags because users are more likely to create an account after they've typed something out vs. leaving when they find out an account is required to participate.

Even the shitbags over at Mozilla are doing it.

top 15 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] 200ok@lemmy.world 25 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

TransUnion asks for your credit card info as part of the "identity verification process" and then charges you $25 for the credit report "subscription" that at no point can you opt out of.

You have to call and talk to a human to get it refunded. During the call they will have "technical problems" and drop the line.

I hate TransUnion.

[–] spankinspinach@sh.itjust.works 5 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

I find myself wondering if you can stop payment on your credit card? You've attempted to work with the company, so I assume that meets the cc provider requirement of attempting to resolve. Not sure, but worth a shot

[–] plz1@lemmy.world 15 points 13 hours ago (2 children)

Yes, you can. It's called a chargeback. Companies hate it, because it's a refund plus a fee/fine they have to pay for being awful. You just call your credit card company and ask them to initiate a chargeback. They'll ask some questions about if/how you attempted to go through the right channels, how much time you allowed them, etc.

[–] s38b35M5@lemmy.world 1 points 3 hours ago

Charge backs aren't just granted arbitrarily though. I spent almost $1k on getting my wheels refurbished. When I got them back, they had done more damage rather than repair them, and now the wheels cause major vibration.

Visa denied the charge back because a "service was provided." Despite the owner telling me on a recorded call that he'd never refund me or make it right, and sending over forty pictures of before and after. I'm out the money and Visa couldn't care less.

[–] spankinspinach@sh.itjust.works 5 points 12 hours ago

I knew there was a mechanism but not the name for it! Thank you!

[–] turboSnail@piefed.europe.pub 20 points 17 hours ago (2 children)

There's an even worse variant of that.

  1. Install an app.
  2. Start it up.
  3. It asks you some relevant questions to customize the experience to your needs.
  4. You answer them, and that takes a while.
  5. It asks you for your card.
  6. ???
  7. Profit

At least that's how the app devs imagine how that's going to go. IRL though, you just kill the app immediately, leave a bad review about dark patterns, and delete the whole scamware from your phone. If the devs are feeling extra greedy, they'll also ask for you to rate the app long before you've even had an opportunity to do anything with it.

[–] Doc_Crankenstein@slrpnk.net 2 points 2 hours ago

Unfortunately, many people are naive and susceptible to the sunk-cost fallacy; that's what they are banking on. They know a good portion will just kill the app but the few that bite will be milked for all they are worth.

[–] elvith@feddit.org 3 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

There's an app that I find useful. Many many years ago (on Android 2.3 or maybe Android 4?) I got a lifetime license for it.

Then a few years ago they updated the app and introduced a subscription. I don't care, because the features that I use are still accessible in the grandfathered lifetime license. BUT after every update without a subscription you now need to complete the whole "let's personalize this app for you" thing. Afterwards it just dumps you onto a screen to select the subscription you want to pay for. You need to dismiss that screen in order to use the free features OR login and restore your old license to unlock most of the features.

They intentionally put a white X to dismiss that screen in the top left, but also put a very bright image there directly under it, so that it's barely recognizable.

[–] turboSnail@piefed.europe.pub 1 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago)

Oof… that’s just diabolical. If I say that I hate that, it’s still going to feel like an understatement.

[–] piskertariot@lemmy.world 8 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

You're assuming you need to hit submit before they get that form information.

They're collecting everything you type, the second you type it. Creating an account is just extra

[–] vrek@programming.dev 5 points 13 hours ago (2 children)

You do. When you press submit it sends a http post message with your information. They are not reading your keyboard input on a website. You can verify this with wireshark and any website with a form.

Yeah some places with apps MAY do as you say like Facebook such with full permissions to your phone. That said its still sent as a http post request, just recorded locally and then sent as a giant packet.

That's why they have the submit button. Otherwise they would have way too many transactions. "a" then "d" then "a" and then "m" and have to concatinate them on the server plus initial packet saying they are getting a first name. Then another that you stopped focusing on first name.

Now how do you handle if I typed adan and go back to correct it? Some apps might do this but general web development(99.999%) doesn't.

[–] invertedspear@lemmy.zip 4 points 5 hours ago

You’re right, you can see this with wire shark, or you can just use the network tab in your browsers developer tools.

But as a web developer, you’re absolutely wrong that we can’t collect every freaking keystroke if we want to.

Sometimes we wait for submit. Sometimes we collect everything as you move from one field to another, called a blur event. Sometimes we wait for the user to stop typing for like 1/4 or 1/3 of a second, called a debounce event. But we can collect every keystroke. We don’t concatenate them on the server side, we send the whole field value after each change, tied together with other fields based on a session ID.

Hell, sometimes we track your mouse movements as well. Where you move in the page, where your mouse lingers, how long you hesitate before clicking. A “good” company uses this information to make a better user experience. A nefarious one uses it to collect all your personal information without you ever clicking submit, and sees just how hesitant you were to disengage after being asked to pay. Then aggregate that experience to determine the price point.

[–] Master167@lemmy.world 3 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

Some apps might do this but general web development(99.999%) doesn’t

Dude, do I have a story for you. A FullStory. I’ve tried to get this removed from my workplaces. But managers take too much time seeing exactly what people are doing on the site in order to determine engagement. So, yeah. Expect every single interaction to be recorded on many corporate websites.

[–] vrek@programming.dev 1 points 5 hours ago

Company computers are different, I definitely don't trust them. That said managers like that are not good managers. Measure outcomes, not time. When a problem occurs and I can't figure a solution I go for a walk. 5 maybe 10 minutes. You would be amazed how often I think of the solution on said walk. Yeah it might look like a waste of time but clearing my head is a huge value to the company.

[–] CubitOom@infosec.pub 3 points 16 hours ago