The more I use YouTube, Instagram and Reddit, the more I feel like algorithms decide what I think about. IWTL how to intentionally discover different viewpoints instead of just consuming what gets recommended to me
Something happened to me recently and I just can't stop thinking about it. I'm genuinely curious whether others have experienced this.
I was having an in person conversation about the ongoing wars. No texting, no searching, no looking anything up. In fact, my phone was actually switched off the whole time, just sitting on the table. A couple of hours after I turned it back on, Instagram started recommending a bunch of videos on exactly that topic. Not tangentially related, specifically that conflict.
I'm not claiming my phone was secretly listening to me. I know people say that's not possible and I'm not trying to prove it.. But the coincidence made me genuinely curious; It made me wonder how much do social media platforms already know about us? They have our location, our friends and what we like to look at online. Maybe my contacts were looking at the thing at the same time and thats how Instagram knew I was interested.
That got me thinking for a second, more of an important question. If social media platforms are always showing us things they think we'll like, is that a problem? Could we be missing out on information especially on complicated topics like war? How do you even know if you're only seeing one side of the story?
Curious to hear from people who actually understand how this works. Have you noticed anything, like this before? How do you really know what an algorithm is showing you? Has anyone else had an experience?
How can you really check what an algorithm is feeding you?