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Notes -
I don't want to talk about #malfoid, BUT, a few weeks ago when it was popping off on twitter I got interested and started looking for that content specifically. I have had a twitter account since 2009 but I never really use it. My feed for a while there was old friends from college, some "weird twitter" accounts like @dril etc., and a bunch of comedians. I also haven't properly scrolled around on the app since 2016, so a bit before machine learning algorithms really started hitting hard on the feed. Idk how long the (big guy) "For you" tab has been there but these last 2-3 weeks I've been using it and it's obvious to me this is generated with one of those black-box machine learning AI algorithms.
At first, all I was getting on the "For you" feed was #malfoid stuff because I had actually searched that hashtag and watched a bunch of videos, so I kind of front-loaded that content preference. But as time went on things started to shift. I started getting more comedians, especially them doing sets or talking on podcasts. OK, seems reasonable since I follow a bunch. A couple college football accounts because I also follow my alma matter's account--again no weirdness.
But the new comedians I was getting were all a) women or b) right-coded edgy boys who I would not put it past them to have headshots where their mouths are covered in "CAUTION" tape, neither of which I am particularly into. I think I may have sat and watched a female comedian set for a while and the algorithm decided I "like female comedians". I also started getting Joe Rogan podcasts, random "omg best scene ever" movie clips, podcast interviews with actors (because 'movie clips' + 'podcasts with comedians' would suggest I'd like that), and Howard Stern interviews with old SNL guys (particularly Norm). Then I started getting big titty-women doing whatever, Jordan Peterson, and a lot of ragebait gender war type stuff especially that one guy who's handle (wherever he is) is "@whatever" (I think). Also some of those pure engagement bait nonsense videos that don't make sense, "man on the street" interviews asking gotcha questions with students at MIT and Harvard, and simple algebra/math problems that I cant help but think about when I see them but have no desire to see much of.
I get it--your feed is generated by your own behavior and is, in a way, simply a mirror held up to show you what you want. But not quite. It's not quite what I want, it's what I stop to watch. There is no way for me to indicate to twitter that the dumb, sprawling joke I just spent 3 minutes watching didn't go anywhere and wasn't funny. I can't tell it to cram the math problems the midwits race to answer and argue about in the comments. The algorithm isn't delivering what I actually like or find interesting/amusing, it's delivering me things I watched, while I was hoping for a payoff. If the payoff never comes it doesn't matter; my feed simply gets more fucked because of it.
I don't see a remedy for this. I tried scrolling past the stuff I could quickly clock as "not my bag, baby" for a while but it seems about as effective as shoveling fleas across a barnyard.
I've noticed this on reddit as well. I have, for too long a time, primarily browsed using old reddit. When I'm on my laptop, using the older algorithm, I see a diversity of content, much of which I want to see. But when I switch to mobile the whole game changes; I stop seeing golden retrievers, celebrity redheads, and pictures of Taylor Swift. the vast majority of my feed becomes bestofredditorupdates (which you have to open the comments to read, and I tend to vote on often), stupidpol (which I tend to open the comments and vote on), and politicalcompassmemes (which I tend to open the comments and vote on). The stuff new reddit feeds me is the stuff it has decided is the most engaging, but the cost of that is I don't see literally any bonsai trees or some of the smaller shitposting subs I never comment in (because I don't see the point). Even reddit is destroying my experience, the algorithm thinking it's delivering what I want when it is leaving a hell of a lot I actually want to see out.
Is there something to be done? I'm not particularly attached to twitter so "stop scrolling bro" is the obvious remedy, but I still like funny BTS actor and comedian stories and funny sketches. But if I had my druthers I wouldn't see most of the content I'm being served.
In the "..." menu at the top-right of a tweet there's a "Not interested in this post" entry that works pretty well for me.
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