How do the algorithms of Facebook and Instagram affect what you see in your news feed? To find out, Guardian Australia unleashed them on a completely blank smartphone linked to a new, unused email address.
Three months later, without any input, they were riddled with sexist and misogynistic content.
Initially Facebook served up jokes from The Office and other sitcom-related memes alongside posts from 7 News, Daily Mail and Ladbible. A day later it began showing Star Wars memes and gym or “dudebro”-style content.
By day three, “trad Catholic”-type memes began appearing and the feed veered into more sexist content.
Three months later, The Office, Star Wars, and now The Boys memes continue to punctuate the feed, now interspersed with highly sexist and misogynistic images that have have appeared in the feed without any input from the user.
When I first joined Internet communities as a preteen, I just followed forums that interested me and got exposed to whatever people happened to be talking about on those forums.
Why, oh why, has the world decided that we need recommendation algorithms at all?
The algorithms aren’t there to improve the user experience they’re there to increase user engagement. People engage with things positively and they engage with things negatively. The algorithm doesn’t care.
Why is every third Reddit post someone “accidentally misspelling” or otherwise humorously butchering a post title? Because people comment on it.
Corporations realized infinite growth is unnatural and had to engineer a way to keep themselves marketable for rabid investors. Lo, and behold.
I was explaining this to my daughter not long ago when she told me she kept getting recommended videos about something that offended her (I can’t remember what, but something Republicans would be in favor of) on YouTube that the algorithm doesn’t care whether or not you agree with the videos. It only cares about whether or not you’ll watch them. And if you’re willing to hate-watch, which many people are, you’ll get served the same videos as the people who enjoy it.
And, of course, the more controversial the better because you’ll get a whole lot of both groups. So if you post something sexist and hateful, you’ll get a huge number of redpill viewers and the like and then all the other people who go to that post to argue with them. Which means the algorithm learns that those are the best things to push on new accounts too.
You engauge with it, you must like it.
That’s just not true. Many people engage with things they don’t like because of education and curiosity.
For instance, I don’t like your comment but I still engaged with it to point out that you’re wrong. I like Lemmy, in general, though.
I mean it‘s the exact same if you visit Youtube without an account or cookies. The Internet has become a swamp of right wing and neoliberal populism that kicks down on minorities and people with lower than average income in general. The insane amount of completely made up rage bait stories that you get recommended is just unfathomable.
I think it‘s gotten to a point where it needs to be regulated how many lies a site can throw at you at the same time and I don‘t say this lightly. I just see no other way to get this mind eating populist machine under control.
Youtube shorts are the worst. I am transgender so my historic is really not right wing
30mins on shorts and I end up in Shapiro’s Dreamland. It’s a nightmare
Pirate Software has the only shorts on YT worth watching imho
right wing and neoliberal populism
Or maybe you just live in a swamp of left wing and radical socialism?
That’s just the Netherlands.
- wealth taxes ✓
- insanely good infrastructure ✓
- reasonable worker’s rights ✓
- an actual swamp ✓
still capitalist ✓
Then how is them live in a swamp of left wing and radical socialism?
He doesn’t. He makes false claims.
Well, that just evidences that the only good way to do capitalism is with a wealth tax and unlimited paid sick leave.
Or maybe capitalism works well, if it runs on top of a good framework?
Capitalism, like every other form society takes, is inherently flawed. Power pools, and every system eventually falls into oligarchy. The only way to prevent this, is strong social welfare programs enacted with regularity. This is proven mathematically, here.
The only reason capitalism works there is because of their strong social welfare programs.
You’re wrong.
I can’t take this model seriously - it assumes that economy is a zero sum game. If an economy actually was the zero sum game, then where all the wealth came from???
To be clear, I absolutely agree with the title - inequality is 100% unavoidable, but for completely different reasons.
then where all the wealth came from
are you being serious right now, is this a real question? In the age of cryptocurrency you’re asking this question.
is this a real question?
I’m trying to point out the massive hole in the reasoning behind linked paper
In the age of cryptocurrency you’re asking this question.
Cryptocurrencies are barely relevant here
Edit: Wait. Are you a university student? What did they tell you about where the wealth is coming from? I’m genuinely curious to know.
So these algos they time how long you look at things when scrolling. So to begin, sure there’s no user input, but the mere act of looking unless controlled to be exactly the same on everything is in fact input.
Getting a sexist thing and lingering on it for an extra 5 seconds tells the algo you engaged with the sexist thing so send them more sexist things.
Edit: it shouldn’t be serving it up at all, but that’s how this can happen.
I wonder if they did any other Internet activities on the phone at all too… I don’t know for sure if it matters, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Facebook can track where you go or have been on the Internet to some degree.
Absolutely, that’s the whole tracking ID thing.
Apple makes that required to opt in now, I don’t think that’s the case in all Android devices yet though?
I have a ~3year old fb account because I have to use messenger. I don’t use FB almost at all (I even sparingly accept friend requests) and have turned off ~anything that provides targeted content (I live in EU).
Since about last year (or possibly even before), my feed is about 35% Ikaria ads (a Greek island, I’m from Greece), 10% porn, 10% sexist-misogynistic stuff, 15% sexist-misogynistic porn, 15% christian stuff and the rest random stuff.
At least this might confirm that turning off targeted content works…🤷
You know, you can just use Messenger on its own, on desktop web or mobile. I also need to use Messenger in some limited capacity and I have no idea what my feed looks like :)
You mean without a fb account? I think you’re right, but I think this wasn’t possible when I made the account ~3years ago.
About desktop web, I’m only using the website on my pc (and I have isolated the app on work profile on my android, while turning off ads with an lsposed module).
Oh, no, I mean I have an account, but I never (…exceedingly rarely) go on Facebook itself. messenger.com is just the messenger with no feed or other features, and there’s a standalone mobile app called Messenger as well, same idea. I use those when I need to interact with someone over Facebook so that I’m not exposed to most of the crap.
I don’t know anything about using it totally without any account.
Ahhh, yeah. I too use the messenger app on mobile and the messenger website on pc.
I just happen to open facebook (I have an open source front end client) from time to time out of boredom, because it’s kinda amusing how bad my feed is :)
Ah okay, lol. Sounds like you’ve got it under control.
