You Can, Right Now, Have Your Algorithms Show You Only Puppy Videos
America is in algorithmic crisis! News stories and exposés are published every day warning of the alarming radicalization effect social media companies’ algorithms are having on American society, which was initially a real surprise to me, as my social media feeds feature almost exclusively puppies doing cute and clumsy things, often with fun, upbeat music accompanying their puppy antics.
According to reports, the nation’s Baby Boomers and Millennials alike are being helplessly sucked into rabbit holes of fake news clickbait, echo chambers of grievance politics, and absurd conspiracy theories. Every second an unsuspecting consumer of digital media clicks on a link headlined in all capital letters, and is gateway-drugged into ethno-nationalism, QAnon, Illuminati panic, ironic neo-communism, social justice warrior puritanism, flat-Eartherism, 9/11 speculation, cryptocurrencies, and multi-level cosmetic pyramid schemes!
But there’s an easy way to avoid letting yourself succumb to Facebook’s vortex of siloed delusions feeding rage and paranoia ceaselessly for engagement access to your eyeball attention in the tireless pursuit of potential advertising revenue: go on every social media platform you use, type “puppies” into the search bar, and spend an hour liking and sharing every adorable video you find! This…
