Comment on Algorithms are breaking how we think - Technology Connections

antlion@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

• nahostdeutschland@feddit.org ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  I mean, algorithms are not bad at all if they are transparent. The “scaled” sorting in Lemmy is an algorithm and it does work great. You can take a look at the source code and see how it works. The problem here is not “algorithms” and we really shouldn’t call it “algorithms” - it’s tech companies force feeding you content they want you to see and preventing you from seeing the sites/posts/users you are actively following from reaching your feed. What Musk is doing on X is propaganda and we should call it that

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  • antlion@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Yeah, I’m here for a reason. It takes a lot of blocking/filtering too. But the reason I am here is my desire for “algorithmic complacency”. I like to spend some time mentally wandering.

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  • zygo_histo_morpheus@programming.dev ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    “algorithm” just means “set of instructions”, it is a bit unfortunate that it’s become the default term for talking about this kind of thing.

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• megopie@beehaw.org ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Depending on how you browse, it was not algorithmically recommended. Even if you’re using “active” to filter, it’s barely an algorithm. Certainly not a personalized one, unless you’re just looking at the subscribed feed, in which case the personalization was done by you, not the formula.

  That’s kind of the appeal of this kind of website, when there is automatic sorting it’s very straight forward and user mailable.

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  • ChaoticNeutralCzech@lemmy.ml ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Person who invented sorting algorithms watching you sort by new “to avoid algorithms”:

    Image

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    • megopie@beehaw.org ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Perhaps there is a better term and I should be more clear, but people know, roughly speaking, what “new” does, even “active” is fairly straight forward. They are literally algorithms but not what people are talking about when they complain about “algorithms”.

      When people complain about the “algorithm”, in the colloquial sense, they’re talking about some nebulous unknowable method of sorting that only the people at meta and alphabet are privy to the details of, not the literal definition of the word.

      I should have chosen my words more carefully but I think the point stands, there is a marked difference between a system where it is clear to the user how things get sorted and the discovery or “for you” systems.

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