We need to reclaim our attention

Re:We need to reclaim our attention by gnicholas on Sunday January 02, 2022 @12:46PM (#29771221)

I go on Facebook about once a month. I’ve noticed that Facebook’s friend recommendation engine now sprinkles in some beautiful women, with whom I have no friends in common. I don’t know if someone tuned the algorithm this way, or if it tuned itself. It feels like the desperate move of a platform that realizes it’s losing control of someone.

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Re:We need to reclaim our attention by simplestats on Sunday January 02, 2022 @03:48PM (#29773697)

Perhaps you just got lucky. Mine suggests tons of people from India and the middle east who I couldn't possibly know. I also check it very rarely. Presumably the algorithm must be picking the (very-slightly) best from many many low-probability guesses.

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Re:We need to reclaim our attention by 300bps on Sunday January 02, 2022 @02:15PM (#29772472)

Did you see that movie about Facebook? According to that movie, what you described is literally what they do.

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