{"resolved":true,"match_type":"uuid","source_type":"original_book","book_id":"1d3bd28e-c1ba-4af2-8580-60b32ef26053","title":"If...Then Algorithmic Power and Politics","author":null,"edition":null,"publisher":null,"year":null,"isbn":"2017054909","requested_by":"printed_page","book":{"source_type":"original_book","book_id":"1d3bd28e-c1ba-4af2-8580-60b32ef26053","id":"1d3bd28e-c1ba-4af2-8580-60b32ef26053","uuid":"1d3bd28e-c1ba-4af2-8580-60b32ef26053","title":"If...Then Algorithmic Power and Politics","normalized_title":"ifthenalgorithmicpowerandpolitics","author":null,"edition":null,"publisher":null,"year":null,"isbn":"2017054909","isbns":["2017054909","9780190493042","9780190493059"],"parsed":true,"ai_readable":true,"document_type":"book","page_count":211,"navigation_url":"https://workshop.closeclaw.top/ai/book/1d3bd28e-c1ba-4af2-8580-60b32ef26053","title_url":"https://workshop.closeclaw.top/ai/title/If...Then%20Algorithmic%20Power%20and%20Politics","fixed_page_url_template":"https://workshop.closeclaw.top/ai/book/1d3bd28e-c1ba-4af2-8580-60b32ef26053/page/{printed_page}","path_api_url_template":"https://workshop.closeclaw.top/api/ai/book/1d3bd28e-c1ba-4af2-8580-60b32ef26053/page/{printed_page}","read_url":"https://workshop.closeclaw.top/api/ai/read/1d3bd28e-c1ba-4af2-8580-60b32ef26053","page_url":"https://workshop.closeclaw.top/api/ai/books/1d3bd28e-c1ba-4af2-8580-60b32ef26053/page","search_url":"https://workshop.closeclaw.top/api/ai/books/1d3bd28e-c1ba-4af2-8580-60b32ef26053/search"},"page":{"printed_page":108,"pdf_page":118,"physical_index":118,"physical_index_base":0,"printed_page_status":"recognized","page_sha256":"f9ce3b1b791ecce44343916b320fcc9072b136e9700bcf33897eb79464a56002"},"chapter":"IF...THEN","content":"The ambiguity surrounding diferent kinds of algorithms became particularly evident in the semistructured interviews conducted over Skype. Algorithms are not inherently regarded as problematic but, rather, become more or less problematic in terms of how restrictive they feel to users. Several of the interviewees seemed to focus on the degree of agency and control they felt they had in terms of navigating diferent platforms. Ryan, for example, makes a distinction between helpful algorithms and controlling ones. As with Amber and Nora, Ryan also says “it feels like with Facebook, the algorithm is controlling me.” He categorizes Facebook’s algorithms as big while Twiter’s algorithm, despite the recent news, still feels “small” and “simple.” As he explains,\n\n[T]his simple algorithm that Twiter has is that it shows you briefly that, while you’ve been away, these are the major things that has happened in the feed [. . .] I think the Twiter algorithm is very nice, because it is very simple, and it doesn’t control that very much, it just helps you a litle bit.45\n\nWhen asking Ryan to expand on what he means by the notion of “helpful algorithms,” he brings up Netflix, his favorite platform. To him, the Netflix algorithm is like Facebook’s algorithm and Twiter’s algorithm: Like Facebook because it “shows what is popular right now,” and like Twiter in that it focuses on “your own customized feed without any other interference” but still tries to help you find new content “based on what I have watched.” Similarly, Melissa, a 22-year-old Canadian college student, thinks that Netflix gives you the “greatest control, because it will pull specifically from what you yourself are doing. They will not pull from what your friends are doing, or what you are looking at.”46 While all of the platforms try to find content that is relevant to users, there is a sense in which it makes a diference whether the user feels in control by seting the parameters themselves and the algorithm is merely helping along, as opposed to a situation in which the algorithm seems to determine relevancy more or less on its own or, at least, without any obvious explicit input from users. In many cases, personalization is seen as an asset if the platforms get it right but an intrusion if the popular seems to get in the way of the personal. Melissa links the demand for personalized content to her generation’s desire to feel special. This is how she puts it:\n\nYou are always looking for something that makes you special. And that is one reason why Starbucks’ business model was so successful. Because giving the cup with your name on it makes you feel like an individual in the sea of people. And I think the online platforms try to do a similar thing by ofering you things they think you want the most. And it makes you feel like it is almost like the media platforms are looking out for you. They try to give you the best experience you can have on that platform. And some succeed and some not so much. But I find the personalization much more gratifying for the user than having the same standard experience as everybody else.47\n\n108\n\nI F . . . T H E N","previous_page":107,"next_page":109}