How Feed Algorithms Keep Us Glued to Our Screens

When the whole world is running towards a cliff, he who is running in the opposite direction appears to have lost his mind - C S Lewis

The problem is not our smartphones or the internet, which actually can be put into many other purposes, even if they are used for mass behavior modification these days. The problem is the feed algorithms and the business model used by the platforms that use these feed algorithms to get the users glued into their online environments. People have unknowingly become subjects for their mass behavior tests, for which they are being monitored by these algorithms all the time.

This business model, which targets ads based on behavior and shows the feed to increase the online activity controlled by secret feed algorithms, is the root problem our society has to battle now. These social media platforms have become the go-to place for manipulators when they need to tweak the behavior of the masses or when they have to turn the tide of people towards them. The effects of these can be seen in present-day politics, business etc. You do not need to give up the internet or give up your smart devices to have full control over your thoughts, but just give up those platforms that use these constantly monitoring, behavior modifying algorithms till these platforms come up with some new innovative business model other than earning through stealing our attention.

Feed algorithms are designed so that people spend more time on these platforms without being aware and make millions of revenue from them. These algorithms constantly evolve to increase the usage time of people using the platform by infusing a sense of satisfaction through rewards (likes, engagement etc.) or by infusing a sense of hatred. The program's ability to tweak the behavior and mentality of people who have accounts on these platforms has led to these tools being used for mass manipulation of the public. Primarily they have been using matters related to religion, culture, ethnicity etc., to create a sense of hatred, fear and dilemma among the public.

These platforms cleverly hide the fact that they are being used as a collection of mass user data by saying that they are actually evolving how humans communicate. But the fact is that these platforms are doing more harm than good by using such habit-tweaking algorithms. That is, it is being used for other things than staying connected with friends and communicating.

People use social media because it is addictive, but they treat it as a medium which induces pleasure. It is actually the dopamine hits one gets while using these platforms because of the features that grab hold of the tribal behavior and mentality of the human mind. People often use these platforms every now and then when they get free time, similar to a smoker searching for cigarettes.

These platforms sometimes create a sense of mob mentality by isolating one person's experience from another. This is true because one person's feed is entirely different from another as the feed is shown after collecting their data and interests.

These algorithms are most efficient in creating a different space for each person showing each their own feed, so in a way, they isolate them from the rest of the users. Also, these contents are so filtered that they will either be one which goes well along with our thoughts while at times they show us something that contradicts our opinion. This is how they get into human psychology and grab our attention.

We judge one another without knowing their real-life scenarios and what they are going through. Knowing these things as a human is important to respect and empathise with others. In this way, it has degraded the core human values of social cooperation and empathy. It is also important to keep in mind whether we are being dominated by our negative self or the negative side of our character when interacting with others. As these algorithms are experts at hacking into our minds and exposing our negative side, it is important not to lose our character, which, when lost, impacts most parts of our life.

I may not be the one who is best suited to tell you what is best for you. But be cautious and act wisely when you are dealing with feed algorithms.

Originally published here.