@RickiTarr it’s really scary stuff too! Once someone is down that rabbit hole it’s near impossible to convince them to look at their past changes and reflect how their often very tight relationship with social media has affected that.

Most people kinda understand how algorithms work, as in, like content A, you get more content A and maybe content B as well because some people who liked A also like B. But when it goes to the territory of how you won’t notice when suddenly they’re pushing you to also view content C that is very aggressive and extreme, because you might at first scoff at it a couple of times but with enough time you cave in once, then twice, and suddenly content C is actually pretty good to you, so then you get recommended content E, etc etc taking you deeper and deeper.

It does kinda sound like something that if you don’t have either first hand experience of this effect or have some understanding of human psychology it must be false because how could *I* fall for such an obvious tactic. Kinda like with propaganda, it’s not as much about winning you over and having you cheer for the nazis with one poster and a slogan, but the constant bombardment of it all and the minute changes you won’t even notice.

Or I guess it could be simplified further; if you’ve ever found an old picture of yourself or a loved one and thought “wow look how I/they got so old, I/they look completely different now!” — that’s exactly the same effect. You see the small changes constantly so you don’t see the bigger shift. It happens to everyone and no amount of logic and critical thinking will prevent it.

As an anecdote, I’ve said to my fiancée multiple times that I’m not letting our kid anywhere near social media until they’re at the very least 16, but favorably closer to 18 if even then. She disagrees because of the whole “all the other kids will be there and our kid will be an outcast” and I’ve tried to make the same case I’m ranting about now (sorry about that btw, got carried away) but it’s such a difficult concept to explain and truly understand that it’s a struggle when the other side is still selling the whole “we’re just connecting the people and nothing else” shtick, which is much easier to see and understand even if it is only a mirage. But I’m not giving up for as long as I live. This is too serious stuff to just let go.