Watch: This video decodes the sinister ways in which websites manipulate your behaviour using dark patterns

In the wake of the  Facebook data breach  and  #DeleteFacebook movement , you may have tried to delete your account or, at least, some of the data that the social media giant has on you. And if you have, you know how difficult and downright annoying it is to do so. This is the world of dark patterns — interface design tricks that websites and apps use to make you do things that you didn’t intend to, or to hinder you from doing things that might hurt their businesses.

There are many kinds of dark patterns, the most common being: ads disguised as actual content and  navigation elements ; spam emails; misdirection from  hidden costs  (which you can totally avoid by clicking on the ‘skip this step’ link in the tiny, indistinct font somewhere at the bottom of the page); and tricks to make you share more information than you intend to.

In the video above, YouTuber Nerdwriter explains through  Amazon.com  how difficult it can be to delete your account. The specific dark pattern used by Amazon is called ‘Roach Motel’— a design that makes it very easy to get into something but very difficult to get out of, for e.g., unsubscribing to a service. First, there is no option on the Homepage or under the ‘My Account’ tab that directs you to account deletion. It is after you click on an ambiguous ‘Help’ link at the bottom-page menu, and then five more deceptive links — not a single one suggests that it could lead you to account deletion — you finally find the option. Once you click on the option, you realise that you cannot really close your account yourself. You have to ’live chat’ with an Amazon associate and make them delete the account for you.

Further in the video, Nerdwriter explains how mobile games and other apps use colours to develop reflexive/ Pavlovian responses  that further trigger in-app purchases. Legally, there isn’t much that can be done about dark patterns, as many companies use psychological tricks in their interface design. The most users can do, is understand how these websites try to trick us into doing things we don’t want to.

You can learn more about dark patterns  here .