{"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":111,"pdf_page":121,"physical_index":121,"physical_index_base":0,"printed_page_status":"recognized","page_sha256":"cb98876715231dbfb534f53284a103a18d94f9c766b7aa719aae7684dc7e39b2"},"chapter":"IF...THEN","content":"have long been media strategies for visibility (2016: 2). Users have in a sense always tried to reverse engineer or playfully engage with the seemingly impenetrable logics of media institutions and powerbrokers. However, in this day and age, the logic that people are trying to crack is not about human psychology but machine processing.\n\nPart of this task involves figuring out how these platforms function. For example, posting “life events” on Facebook or using certain hashtags on Twiter and Instagram were seen by some of the participants as particularly efective means for increasing the probability of being made visible by the algorithm. According to Zoe, a 23-yearold self-employed Canadian designer, it is not just about knowing which hashtags to use in order to get noticed but also about knowing how diferent platforms treat and value them in the first place.50 For an up-and-coming designer like Zoe, who depends on reaching an audience (much like Michael), being unable to navigate certain platform conventions could be detrimental to business. The blogging platforms Tumblr and Instagram, for instance, have diferent hashtag conventions that are not just about knowing which are the most popular. Take a seemingly small technical detail such as whether or not a platform allows typing spaces in hashtags. Zoe says it took her a while to figure out that cross-posting images between the blogging platform Tumblr and Instagram failed to atract new followers or interest simply because the hashtags would not synchronize in the right way. While the hashtags worked on Tumblr, they turned into gibberish on Instagram. Zoe speculates that this may have cost her valuable opportunities to be noticed due to the algorithm’s unwillingness to feature her profile on other users’ “explore” section of Instagram. Using the right hashtags in the right way will increase your chances of becoming one of those suggested profiles, Zoe says.\n\nUnlike a traditional public relations person or strategic communicator, the majority of people in this study did not tailor their messages for business reasons but often did so for what they thought their friends and family would like to see. Particularly striking was the notion of not wanting to burden people with unnecessary postings, that is, of not wanting to add to their friends’ information overload; and the social norms around accepted sharing behavior were frequently mentioned in this regard. For Ryan, catering to what he thinks his network is interested in seeing goes hand-in-hand with knowing how platforms work. Because he knows that a photo album on Facebook “is much more likely to appear on someone’s feed than a text status update,” he makes sure that the photos he posts are worthy of other people’s atention. He will only share a photo album with “thoughtful, funny captions” because he knows people are probably going to see it, given the algorithm’s perceived preference for photo albums. In a similar vein, Ryan only rarely “likes” things on social media platforms because as he says “people notice.” If you “like” too many things, the “likes” become meaningless. So, Ryan tries to “save those for actual important times.” This way, when people see he liked something, it actually means he really enjoyed it. “I save my likes for interesting articles or funny videos that are posted by major commercial pages that already have a million followers or likes,”\n\nAffective Landscapes\n\n111","previous_page":110,"next_page":112}