User behavior is shaped by systems just as much as systems are shaped by humans. There's a reason social media has the hold on us it does even though we all hate it.
You can absolutely design apps in a way that doesn't incentivize the worst human behaviors. Tech socially engineers our behavior all the time - just rarely ever in our favor.
We humans are both easily manipulated and often too egocentric to realize and acknowledge that fact.
"There's a reason social media has the hold on us it does even though we all hate it."
The reason is stated vs revealed preferences. It's that simple. People say they hate social media while their actions reveal something else. So yes, you can easily design an app that doesn't incentivize the behaviours we say we don't like, and we won't use them, because despite saying we don't like them, we prefer them.
You can absolutely design apps in a way that doesn't incentivize the worst human behaviors. Tech socially engineers our behavior all the time - just rarely ever in our favor.
We humans are both easily manipulated and often too egocentric to realize and acknowledge that fact.