Evaluating Email Digests as an Interface for Intentional Social Media Consumption

Abstract

Previous work on Bonsai showed that LLM-based curation through natural language can help separate engagement from intent. However, it required users to manually rephrase their preferences and offered no low-friction mechanism for iterative refinement. We extend Bonsai with an email digest layer that restructures the consumption interface from an infinite-scroll feed into a finite, periodic newsletter with embedded feedback buttons. A multi-week field study with 17 participants (12 Bluesky users and 5 email-only users) examined whether embedded feedback controls could tighten the preference-refinement loop, whether email as a medium lowered the barrier to entry, how the digest format affected different types of users, and whether bounded delivery supported more intentional consumption. We found that email delivery lowered the barrier to entry for non-platform users. The digest also served different user types differently: passive users found that it fit well with their consumption habits, while active users valued the content but felt limited by the format's inability to support direct interactions with posts. The embedded feedback mechanism showed promise but was limited by redirect friction and a lack of transparency. Participants described the bounded format as more intentional than scrolling, even when it didn't necessarily reduce overall platform usage. These findings suggest that email digests are effective as an additional consumption medium whose value depends on users' existing relationship with social media.