In a private Facebook share, Rahsheen Porter quoted from Cal Newport:
“We know these platforms are bad for us, so why are they still so widely used? They tell a compelling story: that all of your frantic tapping and swiping makes you a key part of a political revolution, or a fearless investigator, or a righteous protestor – that when you’re online, you’re someone important, doing important things during an important time.
“But this, for the most part, is an illusion. In reality, you’re toiling anonymously in an attention factory, while billionaire overseers mock your efforts and celebrate their growing net worths.”
The algorithms only show you what they think will cause you to maximally engage. Even in the days of FriendFeed, I never saw content from the extremely active Turkish and Italian communities. Why should I? I saw what FriendFeed wanted me to see.
But I’m thankful that Facebook shows me Rahsheen’s content.
And I am also thankful for those who understood the “Go See Cal” post title.
And finally, I am thankful to the residents and former residents of south Arlington, Virginia who detected the inside joke in the picture above. (Hint: the hoodie was originally gray.)
Bredemarket 