Re:Biden wins White House, vowing new direction for divided ...
by heavyset_go on Saturday November 07, 2020 @05:55PM
(#25020488)
> Could there be a class action lawsuit against the various companies whose recommendation engines hijacked people's attention to recommend and reinforce this garbage?
People like to hand-wring about "the algorithm", but then they seem to fall short[1] of understanding that exposure, impressions, and engagement are sold to the highest bidders on social media platforms. Not only that, the platforms allow fine-grained targeting of users based on tomes of data collected on them.
These recommender systems don't just hijack people's attentions as a side effect of increasing engagement, it is by design in pathologically manipulative and anti-user way.
It isn't a coincidence that those with money and an agenda[2] can inject money into social media platforms and have their content spread like wildfire.
People like to hand-wring about "the algorithm", but then they seem to fall short[1] of understanding that exposure, impressions, and engagement are sold to the highest bidders on social media platforms. Not only that, the platforms allow fine-grained targeting of users based on tomes of data collected on them.
These recommender systems don't just hijack people's attentions as a side effect of increasing engagement, it is by design in pathologically manipulative and anti-user way.
It isn't a coincidence that those with money and an agenda[2] can inject money into social media platforms and have their content spread like wildfire.
[1] https://kelleycotter.com//wp-content/uploads/2020/02/IJoC_Al...
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mercer#Brexit