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The old distinction between “signal” (valuable content) and “noise” has collapsed. Today the noise is the product, because noise keeps the algorithm running - i
by CGMthrowaway 11mo ago
The old distinction between “signal” (valuable content) and “noise” has collapsed. Today the noise is the product, because noise keeps the algorithm running - it helps a platform compute our own individual feed-bubbles.
Platforms don’t actually curate content, they curate engagement rate. Therefore the optimal strategy for a platform is to produce as much noise as possible and sort it in real time.
We experience this as “I can’t find the good stuff anymore” while the platform continues to profit as long as we keep looking for the good stuff.
- atoav 11mo agoI don't think it has collapsed. If you read early works that expanded the topic from it's original telegraphy/telephony context (e.g. Cybernetics by Norbert Wiener) it is pretty clear that signal and noise was always subjective. Or let's phrase it differently: One persons noise could be another persons signal. Whether something something is more signal-like or more noise-like depends entirely on who is looking for which purpose. As for signal and noise in social media: Lets say you follow 5 people. If we realistically assume you are not going to like everything those 5 people post, that means your feed will contain significant amounts of noise even wothout any algorithmic curration or non-follower content. Part of that will be that you won't even know yourself what you're looking for at all times.