What if you knew what you were missing on social media
We have no control of what we see on social media, and this needs to end
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On most social media platforms, algorithms use your behaviour to narrow in on the posts you are shown.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Julia Angwin
Social media can feel like a giant news-stand, with more choices than any news-stand ever. It contains news not only from journalism outlets, but also from your grandma, your friends, celebrities and people in countries you have never visited. It is a bountiful feast.
But so often you do not get to pick from the buffet. On most social media platforms, algorithms use your behaviour to narrow in on the posts you are shown. If you send a celebrity’s post to a friend but breeze past your grandma’s, it may display more posts like the celebrity’s in your feed. Even when you choose which accounts to follow, the algorithm still decides which posts to show you and which to bury.