I like some algorithms and I'm biased.
Created at: 2024-04-03
Last edited at: 2024-04-04
First, I don't use many social medias, I use mainly YouTube and some messengers, but even then I'm still exposed to some targeted ads, Google pushing articles to me and Big Tech wants my attention everywhere I go, you probabilly know the drill.
Second, I did trailed off the main topic, but I think it was for the greater good. Sorry!
I like YouTube, and that's not bad.
I watch YouTube every day, almost religiously, from video essays about our society to daily slop™ and LoL content, I developed an routine to watch it while I'm doing something, if I had internet at this very moment, I would probably be listening to some video essay about a children's show with the duration 1 to 10 hours side update (instead I'm listening to a 1 minute loop VGM that the YouTube algorithm recommended me and I downloaded it), and the algorithm helped me to find content I really like and connected with, I'm even somewhat proud to say that my algorithm is great to find small niche channels with great content, but that's my "content sea" that I try to my best to not get sucked in but will try to drag me if I'm not cautious.
Ok, so, Are they good? (Answer: No)
Well... As a said, I like YouTube, there's nothing wrong with the actual content, that's not the real problem, but the higher ups wants us to like it because if we like the content, we will be engaging on them, trading our most valuable currency, time and attention, to more content we like, and this becomes really quickly a feedback loop that preys on you to monetize on your natural vulnerability and this is a bit bad, but hey, it's a freemium service with a predatory scheme, it's the new industry!
On the surface, I don't think is really that bad, but this is just the surface, what lies beyond is worse.
This is a statement I sometimes hear around this discourse, and it's basically a fact nowadays. The algorithm is roughly just code that compares your data with the content and pushes to you. But it didn't wrote itself, someone, some team, or some company wrote it tailoring for that specific need and they know how it works and if they don't like it, adjustments will be made to please the company and investors. And because it was made to please a company, it can and possibly will be bias, agendas and such, even manual curations has, for example, perhaps a search algorithm tends to obfuscate other search algorithms because it was programmed to do so, either because the company don't want you to use others, maximizing profit, or even just because they don't like the others. And we will possibly won't know, it's proprietary tech, a black box we don't even have access to.
Everything now has an algorithm, from your news app to shopping apps, everything is "personalized" to you, to "ensure your needs are satisfied" or some catchphase they are using now, they have the power to control you in every aspect, from what you buy to who you trust, politics nowadays is about who can best please the algorithm, because who wins the algorithm can dictate what is "good and bad for you". We have examples of that, and even some we don't know because they don't want us to know, which, honestly, this can sound conspiracy-like, but isn't far from the truth.
And well, this is just in the Internet, our world is automated for many years by now, institutions popularized algorithms, which now determine who can have access to public health care, which applicant gets the job, even in India, an algorithmic system was implemented to identify patterns and predict future crimes, and most of them will show signals of algorithmic bias, like the Indian system, that was biased agaisnt migrant settlements and minorities, job candidates not being recruited because of race or gender and, similarly, denying some drugs to more black people than white people.
Then... are they bad, right? (Answer: No)
Algorithms are just a set of rules, which can programmed or not, but always focusing on their efficiency. And well, I love factory games, from Factorio to GregTech, everything clicks just right to me, and the focus is to automate everything whichever way possible, and this automation is mostly algorithms. A really good example of this in real life is manufacturing systems, which uses this algorithms designed to optimize the allocation of resources and minimize production costs and waste, and its pretty good for the factory, having next no none algorithmic bias, and being simple enough to understand.
We should use it, not abuse it.
Now multiply this to sea of infinite content, already biased code, interests from investors, ever-changing needs and a major requirement to keep the user invested in it, its basically a recipe for algorithmic bias and predatory behavious, and that's how most social media works. The elephant in the room (in this case, in the machine ☺) are the algorithmic bias and predatory behavious, if you can "clean" them from this, it can be a great tool for social medias and such. Of course, it would cost a lot more than it already costs (and possibly less engagement), and still won't be perfect, but it would be better and healthier than what we have now. And not just in social media, but in every case, especially if involves humans.
Even if the algorithm is perfect, we should use it as an aid to us, not replacing the human input, that's the algorithm job, that's the AI assigment, because if the system makes a mistake, we can fix it, an algorithm with no human input is either useless or extremelly biased. Understanding how the algorithms works is also necessary to curate outputs and fine-tune it, transparency should be a key component in social media algorithms, but not too much, as it could lead to users abusing the system or even backfiring by gaining less trust in the algorithm (which could or not be addressed in the code), and even then it probably wouldn't please everybody, like nowadays.
Social media's way of gaining retention by praying on their addictive nature should also be addressed some way or another, but I don't think it should have a restriction or something along the lines, it's about how the user engages with them that should change.
What we can do as the user?
As the average user, we can't control the algorithm, the most we can do is to curate some content using the tools avaliable to us, like blocking content bad for us and such, which can become a bubble later on (which could be bad, depending of your relationship with it), however if you still don't want to use certain social media for any reason, you can opt for another one, we are in the internet era, there's plenty others social medias for your liking, from cooking ones , "status-only" network or a social media without algorithms altogether, probably there is something out there you will like... And if you still don't like any of them, just do your own!
You want to connect to friends you already have? Set up a RSS feed everybody can use, its not that hard, and there's plenty of tutorials out there covering what you need to it.
Maybe you want something akin to a social media profile? Make a SpaceHey account or a personal blog on Neoticies or other hosting (or host yourself), you will have more freedom to customize as you wish.
Just want a place to talk to someone? Discord, Guild, even Whatsapp or Signal/Molly got you covered!
Yes, some of this is towards the "obscure" side of the internet, but is just not mainstream stuff, but still works great, and that's the beauty of the internet, there's always some other option, some other place or something that will work for you.
After all of this, I don't think they are inherently bad, in my opinion, some of them are good, like YouTube, but I do my part of having caution towards them. And you should too. If you want to opine, discuss, or just say something, you can use the guestbook i didn't made it yet because idk if i will upload this ☺ its done, here it is
Reader, thank you and stay safe.
wikimaster