New Delhi: Cookie pop-ups and “sign in with Google prompts,” among other digital irritants, have now been christened with a new name that does it all: the “dickover”. Coined in May by John Gruber. The tech writer hopes that the term captures the user’s frustration.
Dickover refers to modal panels, pop-ups and other prompts deliberately obscure content and force users to interact with them. The Guardian has compiled a list of such tech annoyances that hamper life online.For instance, “AI horning” is another feature of the digital hellscape. It refers to Google’s AI overview, which loads before your actual search results.
“Captchore” is yet another word that perfectly summarises the captcha hell. It summarises the tedious and mind-numbingly annoying task of ticking boxes to prove that you are, in fact, not a robot by identifying bicycles, trees, traffic cones.The list goes beyond just pop-ups and captchas. “Baggravation” describes the battle with self-checkout machines. From the machine’s mass hysteria when faced with a slightly heavier item to its complete meltdown for a birthday card that might need to be slammed into the bagging area to be recognised by the self-checkout counter. The frustration is palpable.Ever tried to cancel a subscription? It is not simply one click. It is the desperate persistence of companies trying to keep users subscribed. Desperate pop-ups and pages redirect users to discounts or ask if they are absolutely sure about cancelling their subscription. Perhaps they would like to pause instead of cancel. This predicament is called “quit-shaming”, where breaking up seems to be an uphill task.Then there is the “cart cling”, the digital equivalent of an online shopping website refusing to part with you. The increasingly needy emails remind you that there are items in the cart again and again. You may have moved on, but the item still remains, waiting for you. Alone and abandoned.And perhaps the most affirming, but worst of all—”chat flattery,” the tendency of AI chatbots to validate everything you say. This can especially be problematic when the AI agrees with every potential bad decision, having serious repercussions. Like ChatGPT overenthusiastically agreeing with some of your not-so-proud moments, saying, “That is such a valid and understandable choice “.Taken together, these terms sum up our shared annoyances in a few catchy words. And the digital hellscape finally has a vocabulary for almost every small irritant.(Edited by Insha Jalil Waziri)
