I’ve recently read, and am thinking about, [this piece](https://www.tumblr.com/cryptotheism/722505051588952064/i-genuinely-appreciate-the-clarification-here-the?source=share). It’s about Tumblr trying to design things such that users can join up and start participating with less friction. Maybe that’s right for Tumblr, but it has me thinking about how much the internet world values “low-friction” interactions. Let’s play with that metaphor. Friction: kinetic energy lost from the system by conversion to thermal energy. Friction: a substantial part of what allows you to _move_ usefully, or even at all. Friction lets you push off and progress. Friction lets you break out of your trajectory, and go somewhere with intention. Just as “inefficiency” can be (though isn’t always) the same as “resilience”, “friction” can be the force that lets you decide where you end up. “Ease of use” isn’t the same thing as “meaningful to use”. There’s value, often, in difficulty (though again, not always). You don’t get strong without resistance, and you don’t get better at writing or thinking without some feedback, push back, and difficulty. Not everything has to be this kind of activity. But also, not _nothing_. Not everything for everyone, either: I’m awful at practicing musical instruments, and I don’t see myself getting better any time soon. I’ve never really learned how to do the hard work of that kind of practice, and I don’t have much drive to do so. But it’s very important to me that some people put in that effort, and it’s very important to me that I put in that kind of effort on _something_. I want spaces online that let people work out ideas and develop them and move past spaces designed to be _always easy_ to use. Not hard for the sake of being hard, not hard because of stupid accidents, but hard like the gym is hard, hard like the feedback at art school is hard. And I want those spaces to be _intentionally_ like that, not like that despite the best efforts of the designers of the space.