Very Internet Person

Friend of mine just said “I’m really happy with my instagram feed”

Assuming that she liked the aesthetic of her posts, I asked what she had on it

And she said Moo Deng, otter videos, and the like.

Somewhere we went from being proud of the profile feed we create to the algo feed we consume.

None of the 4 major feed architectures actually works.

1. “Following” feed: Gets stale and cozy-claustrophobic after a while. Friends and even “weak ties” are info-poor.

2. Self-personalized topical feed: Can’t make one because what enriches my info diet is only 20% legible to me, plus too many knobs/fragmentation

3. Global feed with reactive fine tuning: Degenerates to Chief Algorithm Officer’s coercive tastes

4. Learns-my-tastes feed: Degenerates to learns-my-worst-buttons manipulation that makes me exit to regain control

I think “feed” is a design problem only solvable in cultural peacetime. During endemic culture war, you can’t get a feed that is a) informationally nourishing, b) manipulatively restrained, and c) sufficiently socially open

c = mostly friends, but good serendipitous discovery of enriching new people to follow. Reposts and quotes mostly reinforce existing dimensions.

Delver at contraptions.venkateshrao.com, running summerofprotocols.com, host of /gloom ☀️

Be specific.     

leonasskau.co.uk //
Hosting /strategy, /leo, /geopolitics // built Culture3.com // online: leosn.xyz
d33m:mun

related stuff from @vgr here

https://warpcast.com/vgr/0x3c9873d8

I disagree with him.  I have a wonderful Twitter feed of really interesting accounts and vociferous blocking

The best things require effort and intentionality