One thing that frustrates me about the whole dialogue is ever since The Social Dilemma people have presumed that engagement algorithms are the problem, and therefore getting rid of them will fix the problem. But that's just not true. They may exacerbate the problem, but we see the same sorts of fake news, radicalization in both directions, and echo chamber isolation on Reddit where the algorithm is nothing more that "upvotes make the article go up," or on college sports forums whose only algorithm is the "bump."
The truly brutal algorithm is buried in our minds. Minds which were never ever intended to be this connected.
One thing that frustrates me about the whole dialogue is ever since The Social Dilemma people have presumed that engagement algorithms are the problem, and therefore getting rid of them will fix the problem. But that's just not true. They may exacerbate the problem, but we see the same sorts of fake news, radicalization in both directions, and echo chamber isolation on Reddit where the algorithm is nothing more that "upvotes make the article go up," or on college sports forums whose only algorithm is the "bump."
The truly brutal algorithm is buried in our minds. Minds which were never ever intended to be this connected.