3 ms·
It only feels homogenous. The algorithm is just giving you the same stuff you’re willing to interact with because it’s working. If you interact or look for diff
by Olreich 4y ago
It only feels homogenous. The algorithm is just giving you the same stuff you’re willing to interact with because it’s working. If you interact or look for different things, the recommendation algorithm will give you that instead.
- z3c0 4y agoI believe that the point is that even if they do solicit something new, it will only be within the statistical bounds of everything to have come before. The "different things" will only be different for the given individual, not the culture broadly.
- revscat 4y agoThat’s kind of the point though. You aren’t exposed to new things any more. When FM radio stations were a bigger part of the music poolrooms, for example, new artists would get promoted by local stations, or new albums by established artists. I discovered the guitarist Eric Johnson because of Q102 in Dallas because of this, for example. Now that discoverability vector is gone. Not that it was perfect in the first place: they were influenced by record company execs and internal politics, I’m sure. But it was something. Another part of it seems to be that financial stresses are so high that people don’t have the freedom to pursue the new.
- tuatoru 4y agoWell you kind of are exposed to new things sometimes, but the algorithms wildly overreact. As I like to say, "accidentally play half of episode 1 of some Korean rom-com, and suddenly Netflix shows you nothing but Korean rom-coms."[1] (Substitute Turkish or Finnish or Nigerian for Korean, to taste. Likewise for rom-com: choose your genre.) Also, you can't set up filters. I'd like to tell netflix, "if you suggest something with Adam Sandler or Jim Carrey in it, I'll cancel my subscription immediately". But I can't. 1. Yes, I know. I need to work on making it more pithy.