Well, I don’t know about you guys, but I hate logging into social media these days because the algorithms are ever-changing and disorienting. Instagram’s feed changed a few years ago, removing the chronological order from the timeline and switching to an algorithmic approach. Facebook has more ads than content when I log in even though I have over 800 friends that I could be reading about. Twitter is beyond unreliable since Musk’s takeover. If I want to learn about what my friends and family are doing, I’d be better off just speaking to them directly and cutting out the middleman that is social media.
We read a few articles this week that discussed the negative impact these algorithms have had on us. Sure, they curate a customized market with products and videos for us as individuals, but they couldn’t be driving us further apart if they tried. Algorithms create a bubble that we’re forced to live in because we can’t escape them. For example, Instagram is under fire for spreading misinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Whether or not they’ll truly face repercussions, I’m unsure, but the only fault is our own.
Profiles following wellness influencers and vaccine opponents were served up posts with false claims about COVID-19 and more aggressive anti-vaccine content, the researchers found.
Shannon Bond, “Instagram Suggested Posts To Users. It Served Up COVID-19 Falsehoods, Study Finds”
We’ve curated the world we live in and if changes need to be made, it starts with us. More and more apps are using algorithms, and we’re slowly realizing that things haven’t improved for the better. Spotify plays the songs we frequently listen to instead of truly using a randomized system when we hit the “shuffle” button. Amazon filters and curates products that are related to previous searches rather than current searches when browsing. YouTube has a continuous loop of videos that slowly derail as we go through them, as seen on YouTube Kids where the autoplay feature cannot be turned off. Technology is being used in ways that have begun to creep into every aspect of our lives. Our phones make it easy to always stay connected, but we’re losing control of our ability to stop and reconnect to the world in front of us.
Automation and algorithms can make our lives easier in many ways, like finding the right item with one search or listening to fascinating podcasts that share knowledge back-to-back. Ordering groceries online and finding music that suits your taste are other great benefits to the developments in technology. Sadly, the reality of the world we live in overwhelms these small benefits. The greed and desire to maximize profit and cultivate recurring customers is a force to be reckoned with for us on the bottom of the food chain that is capitalism. For me, this begs the question: What happens to the billionaire CEOs if the consumers refuse to succumb to their schemes?