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Arvind Narayanan Mar 9, 2023

For years I’ve felt there needs to be an accessible primer on social media recommendation algorithms. So I used my sabbatical to write one! We can level up normative/policy debates about social media if the tech is better understood.

In the essay I also discuss the flaws of engagement optimization and the optimization mindset in general. I have strong opinions on this and I don’t mince words. I’ve clearly separated the normative analysis from the expository parts.
https://knightcolumbia.org/content/understanding-social-media-recommendation-algorithms

Understanding Social Media Recommendation Algorithms | Knight First Amendment Institute

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Tulio Tec Jul 10, 2023

@randomwalker, I'm reading your paper and I became curious about the fact that you don't mention the use of biometric data by recommendation systems. Did you find anything that could prove that big tech companies are using eye tracking and other biometric data to optimize for engagement?

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Arvind Narayanan

@tuliotec With modern mobile OSes, surreptitious eye tracking is not technically possible. It's also a legal risk that IMO outweighs the benefits.

But face analysis has been used for recommendations https://twitter.com/MarcFaddoul/status/1232014908536938498

Other biometrics like gait and activity recognition are also used, but not for recommendations AFAIK.

Use of location data is ubiquitous, of course.

Hope that helps!

Marc Faddoul on Twitter

“A TikTok novelty: FACE-BASED FITLER BUBBLES The AI-bias techlash seems to have had no impact on newer platforms. Follow a random profile, and TikTok will only recommend people who look almost the same. Let’s do the experiment from a fresh account: 1/6”

Twitter