I worry about a hasty generalization here. Whenever prematurely project on sorting algorithms, it tends to show how they think about the world then how the algorithm itself behaves.
What happens is that they end up generally right but precisely wrong. Note how quickly the email hygiene argument was dismissed? Google's spam algorithm has a couple thousand indicators by which it sorts email, and it's a black box for everyone else. If you peer into the abyss and see political manipulation, it's quite possibly a projection of your own mind.
I'm not saying they're wrong - just that I don't think their methodology has been rigorous at all.
Update (3/9/2020):
Ugh. Ton of typos. Rewriting:
I worry about a hasty generalization here. Whenever people (prematurely) project on sorting algorithms, it tends to show how they think about the world than it does how the algorithm itself behaves.
What happens is that they (people, that is) end up generally right but precisely wrong. Note how quickly the email hygiene argument was dismissed? Google's spam algorithm has a few thousand indicators by which it sorts email, and it's a black box for everyone else. If you peer into the abyss and see political manipulation, it's quite possibly a projection of your own mind.
I'm not saying they're wrong (they probably are - stranger things have happened) - just that I don't think their methodology has been rigorous at all.
I'm rooting for the Markup, but I'm concerned about this:
One of the weird things about our newsroom is that, while we investigate big tech, we are just as reliant on some of it as any other newsroom. Many people will likely see our work only if the big tech algorithms choose to amplify our articles in feeds such as Google News, Apple News or the Facebook news feed.
I think it's not just "weird," but maybe a huge mistake. The Markup is in a really good position to fight the bullshit web. Instead of worrying about how to play the e-marketing game, they should just focus on the writing and host all of the stories on a site they own. If the content is exceptional, people will share it with other people. No billboards necessary.
I worry about a hasty generalization here. Whenever prematurely project on sorting algorithms, it tends to show how they think about the world then how the algorithm itself behaves.
What happens is that they end up generally right but precisely wrong. Note how quickly the email hygiene argument was dismissed? Google's spam algorithm has a couple thousand indicators by which it sorts email, and it's a black box for everyone else. If you peer into the abyss and see political manipulation, it's quite possibly a projection of your own mind.
I'm not saying they're wrong - just that I don't think their methodology has been rigorous at all.
Ugh. Ton of typos. Rewriting:
I worry about a hasty generalization here. Whenever people (prematurely) project on sorting algorithms, it tends to show how they think about the world than it does how the algorithm itself behaves.
What happens is that they (people, that is) end up generally right but precisely wrong. Note how quickly the email hygiene argument was dismissed? Google's spam algorithm has a few thousand indicators by which it sorts email, and it's a black box for everyone else. If you peer into the abyss and see political manipulation, it's quite possibly a projection of your own mind.
I'm not saying they're wrong (they probably are - stranger things have happened) - just that I don't think their methodology has been rigorous at all.
I'm totally with you on all of this! Especially this:
So so true.
I really want everyone at The Markup to read Bullshit Web lolol
I've eliminated the tabs on my gmail, I want to be the one who decides which emails I want to look at.
I'm rooting for the Markup, but I'm concerned about this:
I think it's not just "weird," but maybe a huge mistake. The Markup is in a really good position to fight the bullshit web. Instead of worrying about how to play the e-marketing game, they should just focus on the writing and host all of the stories on a site they own. If the content is exceptional, people will share it with other people. No billboards necessary.