The Quest for an Algorithm-Free Social Media Experience
PI.FYI and Spread: Offering a Chronological Feed
In a world where powerful social, video, and shopping platforms rely heavily on automated recommendations, some users are seeking an escape. Two new platforms, PI.FYI and Spread, aim to provide an algorithm-free experience by displaying posts in chronological order.
PI.FYI’s homepage offers recommendations from a “hand-curated algorithm,” featuring posts and profiles selected by site administrators and carefully chosen users. The platform’s revenue comes from user subscriptions, starting at $6 a month. While its design evokes an older version of the internet, the site’s founder, Bainbridge, emphasizes that it’s not an attempt to recreate the past, noting that a significant portion of the user base is from Gen Z.
Spread, currently in closed beta testing, aims to provide a space where users can curate their content based on human recommendations rather than algorithms designed to maximize engagement. On Spread, users can only share links to content from other services, such as news articles, songs, and videos. The platform is ad-free and bars brands and bots, focusing on indicators of “meaningful” human engagement as its primary metrics for success.
The Challenges of Going Algorithm-Free
However, the solution to the problems associated with social media algorithms may not be as simple as eliminating them altogether. Jonathan Stray, a senior scientist at the UC Berkeley Center for Human-Compatible AI, points out that research has shown chronological feeds are not necessarily better, as they can promote recency bias and enable spam.
“You’ve got way too much information for anybody to consume, so you have to reduce it somehow.”
Stray believes that the solution may lie in developing more algorithms that prioritize socially desirable outcomes. In January, he launched the Prosocial Ranking Challenge, a competition with a $60,000 prize fund aimed at spurring the development of feed-ranking algorithms that prioritize users’ well-being and the informative value of a feed.
The Rise of Group Messaging and Its Limitations
As users seek alternatives to artificially curated social media feeds, group messaging has become increasingly popular. Private chats, threaded by the logic of the clock, provide a more intimate and less chaotic space for sharing and discussing content. This trend is evident in the growing popularity of WhatsApp in the US and the shift towards direct messaging within dominant social apps.
However, group chats come with their own biases and limitations. They can still produce echo chambers and other pitfalls associated with complex algorithms, especially when the shared content originates from each member’s highly personalized algorithmic feed.
As users continue to seek out algorithm-free spaces, the quest for the perfect information feed remains an ongoing challenge. While platforms like PI.FYI and Spread offer alternatives, the fight against the negative effects of engagement-seeking algorithms is far from over.
2 Comments
Algorithms might just outdo humans in shaping culture, but hey, who’s keeping score?
So, humans vs. algorithms – sounds like the plot of a sci-fi movie, doesn’t it?