Re:Yes, social media is undermining democracy
by q-big on Thursday July 28, 2022 @03:53PM
(#32269332)
> perhaps we should consider the well-being of a user and bake that into our algorithms. It might not be as profitable
The problem rather is: how are we supposed to algorithmically measure the well-being of a user?
Say you hit a button, and each time you hit it you gain a million dollars. After you hit that button once or twice, you discover that it also causes great harm to other people. If you continue to hit the button, your original intent (when you didn't know it's effects) is no longer relevant to whether or not it you should continue hitting the button, since you would now knowingly be harming people for your own profit. The side-effect is no longer a side-effect. It's just an effect.
To answer your question anyway, perhaps we should consider the well-being of a user and bake that into our algorithms. It might not be as profitable, but there's a reason we regulate companies- having some restrictions on profitability can often be a net benefit to society.