Algorithms have been controversial for a while in the social media world. According to Everything You Need to Know About Social Media Algorithms, a social media algorithm is a set of rules that govern a particular platform. It is a way for a social media app to give you the content you want. As someone who works in social media, I know algorithms are a great way to target a particular audience. If I create a social media post about a job event, I’ll use specific phrases, words, and tags to make the social algorithm do its job. It’s surprisingly easy and scary how accurate algorithms can be. I like to think of an algorithm as a virtual matchmaker. A social media algorithm has the same qualities as a dating app. Imagine going on a date with TikTok— never mind, that sounds like a terrible idea.
TikTok is one of those social media algorithms that is scarily accurate. It relies on your watch time. How TikTok Reads Your Mind TikTok mostly looks at what you watch and how much time you spend watching a video. This article surprised me the most; I didn’t realize how quickly the TikTok algorithm worked, and it explains why my TikTok is mainly compiled of BookTok.
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| Look at that; finding a book-related video only took a few minutes! |
I’m not going to lie; the idea of an algorithm understanding you so quickly scares me. Where is the sense of privacy? Am I truly that predictable? Although the concept of algorithms feels like something out of a science fiction movie, social media algorithms have real-world consequences. Plenty of algorithms are doing it wrong or pushing out false content. How YouTube’s Algorithms Can Fool You explains how YouTube’s goal is for you to go down ‘rabbit holes’, and their algorithm force feeds you content that will suck you in for hours at a time. From experience, I know that this is true. It’s annoying how fast it works, and sometimes I just want to watch one video about cats instead of five. This isn’t what I’m worried about, however. I’m not worried about an algorithm feeding me harmless content; I’m concerned about how it can feed you dangerous content without your knowledge.
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| Screenshot from Above The Noise |
The alt-right pipeline has been a topic of concern for years. Whether you’re an educator, a librarian, or a concerned parent, it feels like some sort of boogeyman. It’s the darker side of social media, and when we talk about algorithms, we tend to ignore how predatory it is. YouTube’s algorithm seems to be funneling people to alt-right videos, which explains that sites like YouTube’s algorithm are directing users “who searched for specific keywords toward increasingly violent, extreme content” (Tanya Basu, 2020). So when a young man who already has biases towards women or people of color engages with certain content, social media algorithms will continue to feed him terrible, violent content. I see this in real life. I grew up with plenty of men I went to school with that I don’t recognize anymore. Nice men turn sexist in the blink of an eye, but why? How does this happen, and how do we stop this? That answer is complicated, especially if you’re an educator or librarian. As a librarian, I can’t shame or ridicule a patron because of the videos they watch. I can, however, be an open resource for patrons. For my space and to avoid certain pipelines, I can provide a safe place to ask questions and to think critically. Having a program or class about algorithms would be a great idea.
Algorithms are tricky. They are an excellent way for social media apps to engage with users but can also have dangerous consequences, such as the alt-right pipeline. To avoid the alt-right pipeline, we must educate people on algorithms and how they work. Learning about social media algorithms and how they work will help people proactively avoid certain pipelines. This exercise opened my eyes to how predatory social media algorithms can be, and I will be cautious while using certain apps the next time I use them.
It's a shame, really, how easily we are manipulated. It reminds me of the importance of media literacy and how we need to start teaching children how to interpret what they are seeing.
ReplyDeleteI like how ‘How YouTube’s Algorithm Can Fool You’ offers some advice on how to approach. The advice centers around the idea that we need to be aware of the content we consume. As you point out, it is important to educate people on how technology affects our lives. We do not want technology to control how we live. It is important for people to take a step back and think about what the algorithm is presenting.
ReplyDeleteHi Lauryn- it’s awesome you were able to discover something new/something that surprised you about social media and algorithms despite already working in social media and being familiar with how algorithms work and affect content sharing and spread. An article I read this week referred to algorithms as social media librarians, which I thought was funny, but the thought of algorithms as social media as a virtual matchmaker is somehow both funnier and far more horrifying. Especially considering how algorithms can be influenced by biases and disinformation because AI doesn’t have the ability to discern in the same way people do. The ability of social media to draw people into a doom scroll or rabbit hole also surprised me: I thought it was sort of a human side-effect rather than a targeted goal, but it absolutely makes sense in retrospect. You’re absolutely correct that the primary way we can influence users as librarians is through education and engagement, as we can’t completely police computer usage or act in loco parentis.
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