i might have a less tolerant (perhaps unreasonably) standard of not dark. i consider intentional manufacture of inconveniences to get a user to do what’s in a site owner’s interest or discourage them from what’s not, even if it’s not deceptive, to be pretty dark. and i still see a lot of that.

my wife right now is yelling at a robot on the telephone “I want to talk to a representative!” she’s yelled 3 times. she has no idea how to get through all the high-tech chaff, she’s thrashing in frustration. discouraged customers don’t cost. is that a dark pattern? i say yes, hell yes. but YMMV!

just a random moment. i can’t look in any direction, via any digital modality, without seeing a hell of a lot of darkness.