Fantastic article. As it suggests, the key to fighting back against social-media manipulation (including here BTW) is <i>education</i>. Learn how you're being distracted and guided against your rational will, and you'll be better able to resist that pernicious influence.<p>Fun anecdote, related to the Google snack-bar example mentioned in OP. When I went to Facebook bootcamp (yes I worked for the evil empire), there was a segment on the cafes. Not cafeterias. Cafes. It's classier, and TBH the quality of the food at those cafes does justify the distinction. Anyway ... they made a big point of how they <i>consciously</i> arrange healthy vs. non-healthy choices at the serving stations to guide employees toward healthier choices. At the time I thought it was cool. Now, all I can think is that they're showing <i>far</i> more consideration for their employees than they ever do for their users. On the site/app we all worked to support, every design decision was made to encourage <i>unhealthy</i> choices for the sake of profit.