Would love more on how to do this “To get a better idea of how you’re being categorized, download your data and do a deep dive into which silo you’ve been placed in and why.”Superb article btw.
Thank you! In Facebook, for instance, you can download your data and drill down into which ads you're being served and it will give you an idea of why. You can also shut it off so that it can't advertise to you based upon its perception of your preferences.
Incredibly important essay, and one that I’ll take to heart!
You mentioned building a self curated set of dissenting/independent voices. How would one begin to find reasonable sources for this without just stepping into a different silo?
You create a list of voices who seem genuine, whether or not you happen to agree with them, across multiple silos. The silos will always exist if an algo is sorting you. But you can access what the other silos are seeing by looking for viewpoints to compare and contrast, not only what is being served to you, or by partnering with friends in other silos who are genuinely also interested in collecting these resources to help them form more well-rounded opinions. There are resources that map the political leanings of various publications which you can also use to see what others are being exposed to that you might never see otherwise.
It takes more time and you have to stay committed to doing it, but it does allow you to access what you would not ordinarily see if you just leave it up to the algos to choose for you.
The question for me is how to find opposing sources that are reasonable/trustworthy when I am already opposed to them and perhaps conditioned to view them as unreasonable. I guess that just comes down to researching the source.
There will be genuine people who you disagree with overall but you know are delivering the message in earnest. People whose conclusions you question but not their motives. Trust your discernment.
Not all silos are ghettos. There are mainstream silos too. It’s just a sorting process to make divide and conquer much easier via people’s propensity to ego identify with their demographic.
I don't agree that the mainstream is not a ghetto. By excluding those who are unwanted into ghettos the mainstream is excluded as well. You aren't trapped in the ghetto silo but you are trapped outside it. So it functions the same way as the ghetto does. In the Jewish ghettos of Europe my grandmother's forebears would say that outside the wall of the ghetto was the inverse ghetto, but a ghetto even so. The goal of the dividers is to control all voices, not only those they insist on excluding. It is an evil goal from perverted evil minds. And I won't pretend it is not intentional, devious, and hateful.
The mainstream gets heard and gets promoted for its views. The ghetto does not. The ghetto is curtailed in reach, shadowbanned, and otherwise stifled and pushed out of view.
You think the mainstream is benefiting from the exclusion of the voices that are thrown away like trash into ghettos? I don't. I acknowledge that the mainstream is less likely to be rounded up and butchered as ghetto residents often have been, but the exclusion of any voices is harming the people who are considered acceptable and aren't being treated like human garbage. Enslaving and discarding any souls diminishes everyone.
And while the mainstream may be able to profit from the algorithms they don't have any choice either. They don't even know what voices never reach them.
It is an ugly and manipulative set of schemes, and I will resent it forever and I will not ever call any of these group solos anything but ghettos. And you have no power to make me adopt your terminology.
Would love more on how to do this “To get a better idea of how you’re being categorized, download your data and do a deep dive into which silo you’ve been placed in and why.”Superb article btw.
Thank you! In Facebook, for instance, you can download your data and drill down into which ads you're being served and it will give you an idea of why. You can also shut it off so that it can't advertise to you based upon its perception of your preferences.
Thanks! Shut off what? Ads? That would be awesome.
Targeted ads, yes. You would still get ads without using an ad blocker, but you would not get ads that are targeted to you.
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1000 thanks for this article Demi. It explains a lot.
You’re welcome! Glad to help! 🙏🏻💜💫
Incredibly important essay, and one that I’ll take to heart!
You mentioned building a self curated set of dissenting/independent voices. How would one begin to find reasonable sources for this without just stepping into a different silo?
Thank you so much!
You create a list of voices who seem genuine, whether or not you happen to agree with them, across multiple silos. The silos will always exist if an algo is sorting you. But you can access what the other silos are seeing by looking for viewpoints to compare and contrast, not only what is being served to you, or by partnering with friends in other silos who are genuinely also interested in collecting these resources to help them form more well-rounded opinions. There are resources that map the political leanings of various publications which you can also use to see what others are being exposed to that you might never see otherwise.
Seems like a really good approach!
It takes more time and you have to stay committed to doing it, but it does allow you to access what you would not ordinarily see if you just leave it up to the algos to choose for you.
The question for me is how to find opposing sources that are reasonable/trustworthy when I am already opposed to them and perhaps conditioned to view them as unreasonable. I guess that just comes down to researching the source.
There will be genuine people who you disagree with overall but you know are delivering the message in earnest. People whose conclusions you question but not their motives. Trust your discernment.
Some of us call the silo a ghetto. Friend @tesstamona wrote her song about the algorithm ghetto
Not all silos are ghettos. There are mainstream silos too. It’s just a sorting process to make divide and conquer much easier via people’s propensity to ego identify with their demographic.
I don't agree that the mainstream is not a ghetto. By excluding those who are unwanted into ghettos the mainstream is excluded as well. You aren't trapped in the ghetto silo but you are trapped outside it. So it functions the same way as the ghetto does. In the Jewish ghettos of Europe my grandmother's forebears would say that outside the wall of the ghetto was the inverse ghetto, but a ghetto even so. The goal of the dividers is to control all voices, not only those they insist on excluding. It is an evil goal from perverted evil minds. And I won't pretend it is not intentional, devious, and hateful.
The mainstream gets heard and gets promoted for its views. The ghetto does not. The ghetto is curtailed in reach, shadowbanned, and otherwise stifled and pushed out of view.
You think the mainstream is benefiting from the exclusion of the voices that are thrown away like trash into ghettos? I don't. I acknowledge that the mainstream is less likely to be rounded up and butchered as ghetto residents often have been, but the exclusion of any voices is harming the people who are considered acceptable and aren't being treated like human garbage. Enslaving and discarding any souls diminishes everyone.
And while the mainstream may be able to profit from the algorithms they don't have any choice either. They don't even know what voices never reach them.
It is an ugly and manipulative set of schemes, and I will resent it forever and I will not ever call any of these group solos anything but ghettos. And you have no power to make me adopt your terminology.
Ghetto ghetto ghetto ghetto ghetto ghetto ghetto ghetto ghetto ghetto ghetto ghetto ghetto ghetto ghetto ghetto ghetto
It’s not about whether they benefit. Why are you crashing out over this? It’s ok not to agree. 🤷🏻♀️