My friend and former colleague Andrea Zak comments on my post on Facebook’s news algorithms, over at her blog:
This technology-induced bubble is particularly problematic in that it is human nature to accept facts and opinions that align with personal beliefs and disregard information that clashes.
Exactly right.
Just to complicate things a bit more, let’s remember that while its no enough just to feed me the news I want, it’s also not enough just to give me a balance of what I want and what I don’t want. Not just some liberal coverage and some conservative coverage. We need good coverage.
It may be hard for an algorithm to detect quality journalism. It may be even harder for a company like Facebook to decide it has a responsibility to give users more than just what they want.
beyond the times 