It still is ‘your’ fault. Your interactions feed the algorithm, but it’s not like it distinguishes between a dunk and a praise. If your interactions are based on being a piece of shit to other people, that’s not a problem with the algorithm. It’s a problem with you.

Alistair Davidson  
Big thanks to #ElonMusk honestly. Although he misleadingly frames it as "your" fault, what he is explaining here is that #Twitter's algorithm is de...
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Ok, let’s expand on this, because I think it’s an interesting topic: if you buy a dishwasher online, what will the algorithm recommend you buy next? Exactly: more dishwashers.

All the algorithm knows is that a dishwasher is similar to another, and that people who viewed one, probably viewed other models (they obviously did it to compare, but the algorithm is not that smart), so, from its point of view, the recommendation makes sense.

Same thing happens with videos on YouTube. If you watch a video on some current topic, the algorithm will recommend more of the same. The algorithm doesn’t take into account things like your ideology, for instance, or even your nationality, so, yes, it might recommend things that you may not like, but that’s just a side effect, not the intended purpose, which is that you keep watching videos, not that you get angry at them. Check the comments on the videos of the channels you usually watch. Most of them are in praise of the one who did it. Most negative comments come from dogpiling campaigns created by humans.

After all, if the algorithm was that good, how come everyone has been recommended things that they’re not interested in at all, or not even remotely linked to their interests?

So, when you get angry at anything on the Internet, don’t blame the algorithm. Blame yourself for lacking critical thinking skills and self-consciousness, and following self-proclaimed influencers.

It is your fault.

@josemanuel

Algorithms follow statistical likelihoods.

That is, if you were looking for a dishwasher, you might still be looking for a dishwasher.

@amerika But, if you already bought a dishwasher, you probably don’t want any more dishwashers. That’s the point. They don’t distinguish between something you won’t have to buy again in years, and a book or a record, which you may be buying frequently.

People assume “algorithms” are these omniscient entities, when in reality they’re pretty simple, even plain dumb in most cases. Problem is, people give them credit for their own shortcomings, which is cowardly and immature, in my opinion.

@josemanuel

How do they know at what point you have bought the dishwasher?

Until then, advertising works on you.

@amerika

How do they know at what point you have bought the dishwasher?

Well, my example was based on Amazon, so I’m pretty sure that they know when you buy stuff from them.

@josemanuel

Depends; is their ad network hooked into your account?

Do they think that a certain percentage -- looks like about 20% here -- will return the dishwasher they just bought and look for another?

I am not a huge fan of the algos, but most of what I see is Amazon or Google selling my searches to others who then advertise through those same sites.

@josemanuel When you, the male, gets married, you know that everything is your fault. :) Of course, the ‘other’ says we blame her for everything. This is an attempt at humour

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