Comment on X’s Algorithm Pushes Users to Lean More Conservative

• Mikina@programming.dev ⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  The algorithm is probably made to maximize the time you spend on the platform, and is really good at it. (I mean, just look how good are ML algorithms on text -> picture, and add to it that the algorithm that does your info -> engagement has decades of data and training on billions of people).

  My theory is that it has misaligned, because it turned out that radicalizing people into right-wing bullshit will glue them to the social network very effectively, so it just started to do that. It makes sense - once you start spewing right-wing bullshit, it will probably isolate you from your IRL friends, you will have an echo chamber on the social network, and it is made to sound like some kind of deep truth no one else knows.

  You getting left-wing content might be simply because it would not be efficient to try to convert you, so the algorithm is trying something else that’s more effective on the (minority?) of people like you.

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  • Lfrith@lemmy.ca ⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    It depends on material too. Algorithm makes recommendations based on similar video, and something like Star Wars for instance has a lot of angry conservatives ranting about it so recommendations can skew towards youtube recommendations including them in Star Wars content.

    On the other hand searching Expanse is less likely to see those conservative rant channels, since not as much content like that is made for it.

    So even though Expanse and Star Wars are scifi viewing and searching both of them will expose right wing centered media.

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