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A comment on twitter/the-algorithm. Parent comment

Re:twitter/the-algorithm by andrewmcwatters on Monday April 25, 2022 @05:25PM (#31160842)
If there is a total set of data, and a subset of it is produced for users, there is an algorithm. `SELECT TOP` is an algorithm. A ML model with a trillion parameters is an algorithm.

There is no "no algorithm."

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Re:twitter/the-algorithm by sverhagen on Monday April 25, 2022 @05:28PM (#31160884)
You're not wrong. But would it be useful to define better what we mean with algorithm then? Like: we mean "non-obvious algorithm"?
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Re:twitter/the-algorithm by andrewmcwatters on Monday April 25, 2022 @05:32PM (#31160942)
You and I might be technical enough people to suss out little details, but I suspect the average person probably also wants to know whether or not something like Twitter testing a feature flag (Yes, really!) is affecting their timeline.

If it affects results in the slightest, I think that's what people are asking about.

Yeah, if the new senior dev screwed up a deployment and now football fans in Dallas are suddenly getting fewer posts about the most recent athlete scandal all because a regional deployment was the only thing doing relevance record keeping, then yes, that's a part of "the algorithm."

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