Re:Yes, social media is undermining democracy
by galdosdi on Thursday July 28, 2022 @05:26PM
(#32270320)
> Yes, and people like it
So? People like cocaine too.
> The algorithm does not shape people's preferences -- quite the opposite! It is an attempt to discover their preferences
Which preferences though? There might be a hundred different types of content that I hypothetically would find very engaging, but the system happens to pick one particular one of those somehow. Yes, it's subject to some constraint but there is still a lot of degree of freedom left over.
So? People like cocaine too.
> The algorithm does not shape people's preferences -- quite the opposite! It is an attempt to discover their preferences
Which preferences though? There might be a hundred different types of content that I hypothetically would find very engaging, but the system happens to pick one particular one of those somehow. Yes, it's subject to some constraint but there is still a lot of degree of freedom left over.