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- The Almighty Algorithm
Howdy,
Welcome to the 1 new subscriber that signed up for the newsletter this past week!
Last week, I debriefed you on my thinking regarding the best place to set roots.
This week, we're talking about the ethical considerations of algorithms.
Plus, I've got a couple of photos from the road at the end of the newsletter!
Algorithms dictate what we consume.
Algorithms are a set of rules that perform calculations. We interact with algorithms each day, primarily when they're calculating what we should consume next to keep us on a platform.
Common examples of the information that algorithms dictate:
content in our news feeds (i.e. Facebook, Twitter)
recommendations on items for purchase (i.e. Amazon)
the results we see when we perform a search (i.e. Google)
What you see is different from what your neighbor sees.
Why? The algorithm calculates different recommendations for each of us based on previous data collected on our individual interests. These data points can be subtle.
Examples of data being collected to improve algorithms include:
Facebook, Twitter - which posts we like, which posts we comment on, if we click on someone's profile when they post, how long we spend reading a post, if we slow our scroll near a post
Amazon - what categories of items we typically make purchases from, if we've searched certain keywords, how frequently we make purchases
Google - our search history, whether or not we've visited a site previously, what our interests are, what demographics we fall into
You can see an example of the data that Google has personally collected on me above.
Google has passively collected my search history and made assumptions based on it. The results are pretty accurate (with the exception of Australian Football & Bars, Clubs, & Nightlife - lol).
Takeaway: even if you and I Google the same phrase, the results we each see will differ based on the differences between our individual interests/demographics.
Google openly provides the information they're collecting on each person who has an account with them. Follow steps 1-4 here if you'd like to log in to your Google account and see the info that Google has collected on you.
Freedom of speech is different from freedom of reach.
Now that you have completed a crash course on algorithms' ability to influence what we consume, it is time to dive a bit deeper.
As you may have heard, Elon Musk and Twitter have entered into an acquisition agreement to the tune of $44 billion. There are concerns about one person owning 100% of the de facto town square of the modern age. People are primarily worried that Musk could limit others' right to speak freely.
Here's where things get nuanced - freedom of speech is not the same as freedom of reach (at least by current US legal standards).
Freedom of speech - the right to express any opinions without censorship or restraint.
Freedom of reach - the right to algorithmic amplification of one's opinions.
Algorithms are hidden behind closed doors as a part of a company's intellectual property. This is kept secret in part so that users cannot manipulate the algorithm and flood our feeds with content that plays the algorithm like a fiddle (i.e. disinformation campaigns done by foreign entities).
Yet, the secrecy of an algorithm's components opens the door for concerns that the platform itself could be a bad actor and suppress certain phrases or keywords without users knowing (i.e. social media suppressing political opinions).
Both fears of the user being a bad actor and fears of the platform being a bad actor are valid.
The fate of freedom of speech and freedom of reach lies in the power of decentralization.
We're now transitioning from objective, informative content around algorithms to my subjective, personal views on what is to come (so take it with a grain of salt).
The future of secure digital information exchanges will be rooted in decentralized networks. Right now, platforms like Twitter and Facebook are centralized hubs where we meet to consume content (centralized because the platforms control the algorithms).
In the future, a network of users will validate what will and won't gain traction on social media platforms instead of a platform's secret algorithm.
Why do I think this? A few data points:
Elon Musk is a huge proponent of decentralization in finance, as evidenced by his support of cryptocurrency payments for Tesla
Jack Dorsey, the founder and former CEO of Twitter, tweeted his own concerns about Twitter being controlled by a "Wall Street ad model" (aka the guy that founded the company has concerns about the negative effects of a centralized entity in control). Dorsey is also a huge proponent of decentralization in finance, as evidenced by the recent rebrand of Square (another company founded by Dorsey) which now goes by "Block"
Twitter developers were already working on a decentralized version of the platform in 2021. The effort was led by then CTO, now CEO, Parag Agrawal.
I don't know the specifics of what decentralized social media platforms will look like.
I don't know what trial and error we'll need to go through to get to a polished product.
All I know is that the 3 most important people to Twitter's product vision are on board with decentralization, and it has the potential to resolve the freedom of speech and freedom of reach issues that we're currently experiencing.
In fact, a couple of decades from now, I think we'll look back at our widespread participation in information exchanges controlled by centralized entities the same way that we look back at how common it was to smoke cigarettes or drive without seatbelts - we'll wonder, "what the heck were we thinking?"
Negative outcomes due to smoking or not wearing a seatbelt are still around in 2022, but increased education on the 2 subjects led to significantly better outcomes for the general population. The same will be true for participation in centralized information exchanges once we build and educate people about decentralized information exchanges.
Photo of the week
I just spent an incredible 5 days in Charlotte, NC with my roommate from college, Nick. He planned an awesome weekend filled with friends, food, and the outdoors.
We even attended a spinoff of the Oscars that highlighted themes of Christianity within film. The event was complete with a red carpet. Hats off to Nick's roommate, Kevin, and his buddy Graham for putting on such an original, unique event. You can check out Kevin and Graham's podcast, Jesus in Movies, on Spotify.
A Texas oilman and a van dweller walk into a bar...there's a joke in there somewhere. (Nick works in agriculture not energy, but the hat screams oil - lol).
Thanks for reading
Go tell someone about the difference between freedom of speech and freedom of reach,
Josh
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