4 ms·
> Instead, users want personalization and prioritization All news sources I can think of implement prioritisation. Do users really want personalisation? Do yo
by randomsearch 9y ago
> Instead, users want personalization and prioritization
All news sources I can think of implement prioritisation.
Do users really want personalisation? Do you remember your Dad saying pre-web "oh, I just want a newspaper personalised to me, so I don't read outside of my core interests" or did he just sometimes read, sometimes skip less immediately-relevant articles? I'm not sure anyone really wants to live in a bubble, just some tech companies decided they should.
- adbachman 9y agoLots of personalization bubbles are fantastically useful. I prefer local news from my neighborhood over news from a neighborhood in another city in another state. I prefer technically detailed articles about software development over technically detailed articles about dog grooming. I choose feeds and sources that filter in my favor. Your dad always had the option of subscribing to the Wall Street Journal or People if their local paper didn’t cover business or celebrity gossip extensively enough. Maybe not bubbles all the way down, but it’s close.
- bo1024 9y agoGood point. Maybe the issue is user-controlled, opt-in style personalization versus opaque, algorithmic, A-B-tested-on-other-people personalization. I'm definitely in favor of personally choosing what to subscribe to, but algorithms are very far from where I would trust them to make those choices for me.