Why the Social Media Algorithms Need to Change, Now.
And not in the way you think they do.
I know what you’re thinking, that hearing a marketer complaining about social media algorithms is about as common as hearing a British person complain about the weather. It happens all the time, I get it. BUT I’m not talking about the endless algorithm changes, or the relentless personalisation of ads and cross-sharing of data within the social media sphere (WhatsApp, I am looking at you). In fact, rather controversially, I am all for that!
What I am talking about, however, is the microcosms that regimentally-personalised social media algorithms create.
Whilst the ability for social media to analyse our behaviour in a way that allows the platforms to serve us the exact kind of content we’re looking for is nice (and helps us to filter out at least some of the crap), it’s also incredibly damaging to society as a whole. The better the channels get at showing us exactly what we like and understand, the less we will be presented with things we don’t know, people we haven’t heard of, and cultures we don’t understand. And, the less we come to educate ourselves about concepts we don’t understand, the less likely we are to give them our support, respect, or even thoughts. The more likely we are to feel defensive, angry, even resentful towards them. Bigotry impending.
Think about it, when was the last time you saw content from someone completely different to you, someone you have never met or even heard of before, on your feed? The chances are, it only happens when someone you do know happens to share their content. And, whilst we should absolutely all be working our hardest to amplify quieter voices through our own profiles, do the platforms themselves not have some kind of responsibility to educate their users? When social media has the attention of over half the world’s population, shouldn’t they be expected to ensure their impact on these people is not to develop tighter echo chambers and nurture xenophobia?
The dangers of echo chambers aren’t new. We’ve been talking about them for years. But, rightly so, the past year has brought about more talk of them than perhaps ever before. The truth is, no matter how much we do as users, the platforms must play their part.
So, the important bit, how can you help, and how do you prevent yourself from falling into your own echo chamber?
Share this blog, and others like it. Spread the message.
Follow a more diverse group of users.
Pay attention to the amount of followers the people you follow have. The greater the disparity between their followers and following, the more inflated their influence.
Change your preferences to ‘view recent posts first’ on Facebook and Twitter.
Engage with everything. Whether a like, a comment, or a retweet, engaging with a wide variety of content will help prevent social media algorithms from boxing you in.
