Flatten Virality Curves

For platforms that are focused on collaboration, communication, or meant to mirror in-person social networks, virality (an explosion of engagement) typically indicates something going wrong. These "organic" platforms are attempting to do a physical process (communicate, collaborate, engage with peers) in a digital space, but there is no real-world equivalent for a huge and sudden increase in engagement of any sort.

With this in mind, organic platforms could consider building in rate limiters that try to dampen virality effects when the occur, rather than amplifying them, as many social networks do today. As some examples:

For example, a platform could disallow comments above some expected threshold. Thereafter, only 2x the number of users could comment on a piece of content as commented on it the day prior. This type of system could be tweaked over time to appropriately reflect users' organic patterns of behavior, and their expectations about platform dynamics.

It's also good to note that a rule like this wouldn't necessarily prevent content from going super-mega-viral. It would instead simply dampen the spread of the content - encouraging a slower growth rate in engagement, and a slower uptake in attention. This "flattening of the viral curve" (March 2020, anyone?) has significant advantages for both the platform and the user. For the platform this dynamic is easier to intervene in, and allows platforms to take action on objectionable content before it spreads widely. For users, this dynamic would keep them interested in the health and engagement from their posts - spreading out the attentional focus that engagement metrics drive for a given post over a longer period of time.