You can escape the algorithms, but you need to work for it

We all hear many people complaining about “the algorithms” on social media, and it’s often a legit complaint. At best, the algorithms show us a bunch of stuff we didn’t ask for. As worst, they could be affecting political outcomes.

Part of the problem is the algorithms themselves, but the other part is our overall apathy — simply using those systems is easier than building one for ourselves. However, taking the time to put together your own systems not only avoids the algorithms, but allows you to intentionally hear from a variety of sources to help avoid the filter bubble.

In a recent podcast from Seth Godin, he teed up the idea with this:

“So through deliberate action, some people, people who realize that having a variety of inputs makes them more effective, are finding ways to use the very tools that insulate us to connect us. They subscribe to blogs that they don’t agree with. They read newspapers, as long as there are newspapers, with other points of view.”

A bit later in the show, he addressed the point I’m trying to make, saying:

“And so we can wring our hands about it and complain about it, but we still have the ability to do something about it with our own mouse, with our own fingers, which is to intentionally seek out the ideas that might not be presented to us automatically. I wish I had a happier, easier automatic solution, but I don’t.”

As he points out, the “easier automatic solution” that we have today isn’t the answer. I see two paths to solving this, though.

• For now, RSS is still likely the best way. It’s fading a bit as time goes on, but it’s still a major way that I get my news and information, and there is zero algorithm behind it. I choose what comes in, and I choose what to remove. The challenge is that it can be easy to build a filter bubble using this, so you need to be intentional about choosing from a variety of sources.
• If things go well, the “fediverse” may take off and could be a fantastic solution. In short, it’s a way for multiple social networks to all tie together, and then you can choose how to filter the content. The idea behind it is fantastic, but it remains to be seen if enough networks (and therefore users) join in order to make it truly valuable.

There are solutions now, and more coming, but you have to work to make it happen. As Seth said in his first quote, this takes “deliberate action” and I encourage you to spend some time to set up a better way to get information for yourself.

A great place to start would be with a service like Readwise Reader (which I shared a few years ago), but there are a lot of great options to choose from.

How do you prefer to get your news and information?