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I've tinkered with coming up with my own algorithm for YouTube using their API (albeit very basic ones) and I quite liked the results. I _tried_to make a front

I've tinkered with coming up with my own algorithm for YouTube using their API (albeit very basic ones) and I quite liked the results. I _tried_to make a front end and gave up because of the scope creep. I wonder why platforms wouldn't just offer different algorithms. e.g. historical, maximise-time-on-screen or exploration. Most of the users would be nudged into what the platform wants anyway, and they will be able to claim moral superiority over other platforms that doesn't offer this. Heck, you could even charge for this feature.

transitivebs 5y ago
https://stratechery.com/2022/back-to-the-future-of-twitter/ https://stratechery.com/2022/back-to-the-future-of-twitter/ has a great breakdown of Twitter's history in this respect. TL;DR they used to have an open API and various third-party clients, each of which had their own flavor. BUT this made it really hard for twitter to guarantee a good UX and even harder for twitter to implement an ad-driven business model.
- creakingstairs 5y ago
  I'm not arguing for an open API, I'm arguing for more options in content algorithms. These would be under their sole control. Aside from that, thanks for the link. That is a great post!
  - transitivebs 5y ago
    I think at a practical level, opening up their API for non-watered-down third-party clients would be the only true way to add more optionality to twitter's feed UX. Since I don't see open sourcing the actual feed algorithm to be something that would practically happen any time soon (which makes me a sad panda).
bobthepanda 5y ago
I would imagine Twitter spends a lot of time maintaining the one algorithm. More might involve a lot more work for diminishing upside.
jjeaff 5y ago
I think the reason they don't offer options is because in their business model, there is only one option, the one that keeps you on the site longest and watching more ads. What you think you want and what actually keeps you there are probably not usually the same thing.
- warning26 5y ago
  Exactly, any algorithm choice that resulted in lower engagement metrics would necessarily be something Twitter (and any social site really) would try and avoid at all costs. It's why government regulation is probably the only way to fix the issue, since you need companies to act in a way that's counter to their own interests (but would lead to a better experience for users.)
nighthawk454 5y ago
Stephen Wolfram proposed some similar ideas on this topic. Namely allowing "final ranking providers" and "constraint providers" to modify the final outputs of the algorithms, without requiring full-on transparent explainability https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2019/06/testifying-at-the-senate-about-a-i-selected-content-on-the-internet/ https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2019/06/testifying-at-th...
joelthelion 5y ago
Would you care to publish it? I'm interested in the same thing. Perhaps we could even team up
- creakingstairs 4y ago
  Heya, sorry for a late reply but I probably won't as it's been a while and I'm too busy with other side projects/ life. I got the inspiration from this article https://towardsdatascience.com/i-created-my-own-youtube-algorithm-to-stop-me-wasting-time-afd170f4ca3a https://towardsdatascience.com/i-created-my-own-youtube-algo... And was writing FE for it in Electron/React

transitivebs 5y ago

https://stratechery.com/2022/back-to-the-future-of-twitter/ https://stratechery.com/2022/back-to-the-future-of-twitter/ has a great breakdown of Twitter's history in this respect. TL;DR they used to have an open API and various third-party clients, each of which had their own flavor. BUT this made it really hard for twitter to guarantee a good UX and even harder for twitter to implement an ad-driven business model.

creakingstairs 5y ago
I'm not arguing for an open API, I'm arguing for more options in content algorithms. These would be under their sole control. Aside from that, thanks for the link. That is a great post!
- transitivebs 5y ago
  I think at a practical level, opening up their API for non-watered-down third-party clients would be the only true way to add more optionality to twitter's feed UX. Since I don't see open sourcing the actual feed algorithm to be something that would practically happen any time soon (which makes me a sad panda).

bobthepanda 5y ago

I would imagine Twitter spends a lot of time maintaining the one algorithm. More might involve a lot more work for diminishing upside.

jjeaff 5y ago

I think the reason they don't offer options is because in their business model, there is only one option, the one that keeps you on the site longest and watching more ads. What you think you want and what actually keeps you there are probably not usually the same thing.

warning26 5y ago
Exactly, any algorithm choice that resulted in lower engagement metrics would necessarily be something Twitter (and any social site really) would try and avoid at all costs. It's why government regulation is probably the only way to fix the issue, since you need companies to act in a way that's counter to their own interests (but would lead to a better experience for users.)

nighthawk454 5y ago

Stephen Wolfram proposed some similar ideas on this topic. Namely allowing "final ranking providers" and "constraint providers" to modify the final outputs of the algorithms, without requiring full-on transparent explainability https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2019/06/testifying-at-the-senate-about-a-i-selected-content-on-the-internet/ https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2019/06/testifying-at-th...

joelthelion 5y ago

Would you care to publish it? I'm interested in the same thing. Perhaps we could even team up

creakingstairs 4y ago
Heya, sorry for a late reply but I probably won't as it's been a while and I'm too busy with other side projects/ life. I got the inspiration from this article https://towardsdatascience.com/i-created-my-own-youtube-algorithm-to-stop-me-wasting-time-afd170f4ca3a https://towardsdatascience.com/i-created-my-own-youtube-algo... And was writing FE for it in Electron/React