Why are some people's feeds different if we have the same interests?

The way algorithms work on many of these sites is based on many varied characteristics, which are not always based on interests; it considers age, state, gender, and location, to name a few.

I wonder why these apps do this

cause the people RUNNING those apps are controlling you to scroll and scroll and scroll and scroll LOOKING for comments, likes, or dislikes. hope that helps.

Main content

Course: Social media literacy > Unit 2

Lesson 3: How the attention economy distorts our views and our world

Activity: Comparing social media feeds

Google Classroom

Contrast the different realities available on social media

🤳 ACTIVITY: ‍

Find a partner, and open up the same social media app. Scroll through their main feed (and please refrain from looking at any of their notifications, messages, etc.).

What is the same about your feeds?
What is different?

Now, think about someone who deeply disagrees with you about some of your core beliefs.

How might their feed look different from yours?
What do you think their feed does to their view of the world?
What does your feed do to your view of the world? ‍

🚫 NOTE:

Please don’t share your feed or read someone else’s feed without mutual consent. If you’re working in a group, ask for two volunteers to share their feeds with each other and get permission to share their answers with the group.

Consider the big picture. What happens to our collective view of reality when we’re each receiving different information that’s motivated by these incentives? When we’re in competition to get the most likes and shares? And when the most sensational content is what helps us feel seen?

We quickly end up on a path to a distorted view of both reality and ourselves.

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john.sherman
Posted 3 months ago. Direct link to john.sherman's post “Except, what about the bi...”
Except, what about the birds and the bees ?
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Aubrie Bolanos
Posted 7 months ago. Direct link to Aubrie Bolanos's post “Why are some people's fee...”
Why are some people's feeds different if we have the same interests?
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(2 votes)
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- PrakrutiS
  Posted 4 months ago. Direct link to PrakrutiS's post “The way algorithms work o...”
  The way algorithms work on many of these sites is based on many varied characteristics, which are not always based on interests; it considers age, state, gender, and location, to name a few.
  Comment on PrakrutiS's post “The way algorithms work o...”
  (3 votes)
28myersryan
Posted 5 months ago. Direct link to 28myersryan's post “I wonder why these apps d...”
I wonder why these apps do this
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(2 votes)
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- LM
  Posted 17 days ago. Direct link to LM's post “cause the people RUNNING ...”
  cause the people RUNNING those apps are controlling you to scroll and scroll and scroll and scroll LOOKING for comments, likes, or dislikes. hope that helps.
  Button navigates to signup page
  (2 votes)
RonaldSeats
Posted 17 days ago. Direct link to RonaldSeats's post “How is he still on social...”
How is he still on social media on his phone?
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(2 votes)
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iiDk
Posted 4 months ago. Direct link to iiDk's post “fake image ai generated l...”
fake image ai generated look at his right foot it is a knob
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briza dominguez
Posted 7 months ago. Direct link to briza dominguez's post “How does this work?”
How does this work?
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Amy Shyshnyak
Posted 2 months ago. Direct link to Amy Shyshnyak's post “i cant do this i dont hav...”
i cant do this i dont have anyone to do it with :( but i have seen her fyp and she has seen mine. we like the same things but have a diff fyp. why is that?
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(2 votes)
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alice.goodwin
Posted 24 days ago. Direct link to alice.goodwin's post “more cars less animals”
more cars less animals
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k3m
Posted 16 days ago. Direct link to k3m's post “How to just take a break ...”
How to just take a break from soical media?
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(1 vote)
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Isabella A
Posted 4 months ago. Direct link to Isabella A's post “why do apps do that”
why do apps do that
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(1 vote)
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