Depressing anecdote from Gabe Kangas about going off into the weeds with Reddit’s algorithm:
Now I understand how men online can get indoctrinated so easily. You can go from reading about turntable slip mats to hating women in less than an hour.
Algorithmic timelines are designed to increase engagement for ads, not user happiness, not truth.
Adam Chandler I think it comes down to personal responsibility. First, disable recommendation engines on YouTube, Reddit, etc. YT doesn't save my watch history therefore there are no recommendations. For Reddit, I don't use "popular" feeds so I don't get that sort of experience.
Manton Reece @AdamChandler I wish I could completely hide the recommendations in YouTube so I'm not tempted to click over to them. There's probably a browser extension or hack to do that.
Numeric Citizen I think, eventually, these timelines will need to be regulated, just like tobacco. Even better would be for algo-based timelines to be proscribed.
