Algorithms have so much control over what we see online. Whenever I scroll through social media, I don’t really think about why certain posts show up because I assume it’s a popular video. Beck’s article makes me realize that it is much deeper than that. It makes the claim that algorithms are not neutral. I understand that because information is constantly being taken from us by these different media. By using that information, they use it to decide what is shown and recommended. Two people can use the same app, but never see the same posts appear on both of their feeds. They may get different posts shown to them depending on how algorithms view them. This is why people with certain viewpoints never see the other side of things. An algorithm knows their beliefs and biases, so they use that to decide what shows up on their feed.
I hate the idea of an “invisible digital identity.” It actually makes me really uncomfortable. Algorithms just make these assumptions about someone simply based on their online activity. The assumptions could be wrong and not even represent the person at all. It is eerie to think about how a computer can make these decisions about people based on internet data. I feel like how people are on the internet is very different from who they are in real life. It is not fair to assume things about a person because of some internet activity. It makes me aware of how much influence technology has over society. We don’t really have control over things online. Everything we see is because an algorithm decided it is something we would want.
Leave a Reply