Category: Algorithm ‘recommendations’

Here are a few screenshots on Twitter users recommended to me, based on a tweet I liked. I sense here that, should I follow all these users, I may be entering an ‘echo chamber’ or  getting into a ‘you loop‘…

NB: I did follow a number of these users, and noted that later tweets did tend to broadly have similar viewpoints or at least regularly discuss similar issues.

Below is another different kind of recommendations feed on Twitter – ‘you may be interested in…’. Many (but not all) of these felt less ‘relevant’ to me – either being based in a different geographic location or not being an area I was interested in. I assume these are users that may of those I follow have liked or follow themselves – a slightly more distant connection. If I was to follow these users, I suspect it would be more likely that my feed would become closer to those I follow, again with the potential of creating an ‘echo chamber’.

The “echo chamber” is an issue that has been widely written about, but appears prevalent here. While I am aware of it, I still find myself unwittingly engaging in it, perhaps keen to be “up to date” with the latest from those I agree with. However, I am increasingly finding this limiting and would prefer more engagement with those I do not broadly agree with. I am aware Twitter are experimenting with exposing people to opposing views although it has been met with skepticism by some.

For me, the timeline still appears to be presented in such a way that you are receiving a wide range of views/news/updates, despite this not being the case. Furthermore, I cannot see any evidence that Twitter have our “best interests” at heart, since they are ultimately a company seeking profit.