Arvind NarayananNov 4, 2022

Algorithms aren't the enemy. Chronological feeds don't scale and the signal-to-noise ratio will plummet if this ever gets popular. The real problems with today's algorithmic feeds are non-transparency, lack of choice, and optimizing for engagement instead of healthy discourse.

Open-source is a perfect opportunity to fix all this. Have there been any efforts to create a Mastodon instance with a (community governed) ranking algorithm? Is that technically feasible? Or is the idea simply anathema?

Show threadNathan TeBlunthuisNov 4, 2022
@randomwalker One challenge will be shifting how we imagine the relationship between the platform/instance and the user. Agendas for the design and mgmt of commercial platforms serve business strategies. Users are used to acquiescing to these agendas. Open source social media communities will have to settle on new agendas and goals and this is likely to be a messy process, because discussions often revolve around individual tastes and preferences and not collective goals.
Show threadTaylor Beauvais
@groceryheist @randomwalker
This "agenda" problem is central to all info dissemination/ aggregation #algorithms. Sorting and organizing #misinformation and conspiracy theories becomes too easy if a model goal is a healthy community. That's not a tech problem that's a psychosocial one. Healthy technologically mediated communities aren't profitable ones.
Nov 5, 2022 at 2:04amWeb
Show threadNathan TeBlunthuisNov 5, 2022

@taylorbeauvais

Do you mind elaborating on why you think "sorting and organizing misinfo if a model goal is a healthy community." ?

Show threadTaylor BeauvaisNov 5, 2022
@groceryheist
It's a clickbait problem. Conspiracy theories are more "sticky" as ideas than boring truth. Salacious #misinformation gets lots of engagement because it's not designed to be factual, it's designed to be attention grabbing.
Show threadNathan TeBlunthuisNov 5, 2022
@taylorbeauvais Yeah, so a lot of the known challenges with moderation and information quality seem easier when growth, engagement, and ad revenue aren't design goals, but these were the goals of the social media environments we are accustomed to. Communities on different platforms with different goals are likely to face different versions of governance problems. For example, social movement organizations, Wikipedia, and open source projects all govern speech, quality, and conflict.
Show threadBrian C. Keegan, Ph.D.Nov 5, 2022
@groceryheist @taylorbeauvais Agreed: