"To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle any human can fight." — E.E. Cummings.
I really wonder about that. A friend shared that his young kid was perplexed by how regular TV isn't on-demand like streaming - you have no choice but the pre-determined programming. And with streaming, she wants to watch not only the same episode, but the same part of the episode over and over.
Before TikTok, it seemed like it couldn't get worse than Instagram Stories. And before Stories, it seemed like it couldn't get worse than infinite scrolling. AR and VR are around the corner, so there's a chance social media will kidnap people's energy in an even deeper way.
Maybe this means there's a sea of opportunity for those who can be authentic. Either as a creator, disrupting the formula. Or even as a consumer, by knowing how to explore beyond the algorithm, and consequently being happier and more successful as a person and even as a professional. "Among the blinds the one-eyed man is king". It's good news for people like us, but it's sad for society as a whole.
I'm not sure what it means for social inequality, for one. On the one hand, it seems more likely that resourceful people are able to grow their kids to be smarter than the algorithm. On the other hand, if you manage to grow that skill despite your resources, then it might be easier to rise professionally than before – the competition became flatter.
Firstly, beautiful comment and insight. I love the quote, "Among the blinds the one-eyed man is king."
That's a fascinating observation about your friend's kid. I do think you point to one of the fundamental issues with algorithms becoming more challenging to navigate as humans—those who can't navigate appropriately and fall into their prey are set behind, which certainly creates a social inequality.
It is another addictive substance added to the mix. Humans have had to learn how to navigate alcohol addiction, which looks like programs such as AA, but still, many people can't be freed from its grasp. This is the same with many other drugs, and the algorithm falls into this category, but as a collective, we don't seem to conceptualize it this way fully, though that is changing.
You raise a good way to understand these forms of media - energy bandits, and I think you nailed the solution quite concisely - those who can harness it, even if poorly, will outcompete those who are blind to what the algorithm is doing.
In a way, the winners of the decades of social media will be those who outplay the bandit.
I really wonder about that. A friend shared that his young kid was perplexed by how regular TV isn't on-demand like streaming - you have no choice but the pre-determined programming. And with streaming, she wants to watch not only the same episode, but the same part of the episode over and over.
Before TikTok, it seemed like it couldn't get worse than Instagram Stories. And before Stories, it seemed like it couldn't get worse than infinite scrolling. AR and VR are around the corner, so there's a chance social media will kidnap people's energy in an even deeper way.
Maybe this means there's a sea of opportunity for those who can be authentic. Either as a creator, disrupting the formula. Or even as a consumer, by knowing how to explore beyond the algorithm, and consequently being happier and more successful as a person and even as a professional. "Among the blinds the one-eyed man is king". It's good news for people like us, but it's sad for society as a whole.
I'm not sure what it means for social inequality, for one. On the one hand, it seems more likely that resourceful people are able to grow their kids to be smarter than the algorithm. On the other hand, if you manage to grow that skill despite your resources, then it might be easier to rise professionally than before – the competition became flatter.
Firstly, beautiful comment and insight. I love the quote, "Among the blinds the one-eyed man is king."
That's a fascinating observation about your friend's kid. I do think you point to one of the fundamental issues with algorithms becoming more challenging to navigate as humans—those who can't navigate appropriately and fall into their prey are set behind, which certainly creates a social inequality.
It is another addictive substance added to the mix. Humans have had to learn how to navigate alcohol addiction, which looks like programs such as AA, but still, many people can't be freed from its grasp. This is the same with many other drugs, and the algorithm falls into this category, but as a collective, we don't seem to conceptualize it this way fully, though that is changing.
You raise a good way to understand these forms of media - energy bandits, and I think you nailed the solution quite concisely - those who can harness it, even if poorly, will outcompete those who are blind to what the algorithm is doing.
In a way, the winners of the decades of social media will be those who outplay the bandit.