While we have plenty of people ready to start slapping tinfoil hats on those of us who live this every day, now, the ongoing effort to funnel and filter what YOU read on YOUR feeds has hit Twitter like it did Facebook a couple of years ago.
We've been trying to tell you...for YEARS now.
If you recall the idiocy that came about in 2012 when Fecesbook (yes, that's what we call it, and no, we're not changing that) began screwing with peoples' feeds with new "algorithms" that "targeted" the types of stories that users wanted to read, you'll recall how that ended up being exactly the opposite of what was really going on - Fecesbook was prompting you to read what THEY wanted you to read, keeping you from seeing feeds you subscribed to on that service because THEY thought you weren't interested in them if you didn't hit "like" all the time. Never mind that sometimes, you were away from your computer or phone or other device and simply didn't see some of it scrolling across your feed; or that while you might've read something, you just didn't hit that little thumbs-up icon. THEY felt like THEY knew better than YOU. So THEY end up feeding you what THEY want you to read. And if there's a news organization or page you subscribe to that THEY don't think qualifies as "news," you're not going to get to see it on your feed.
Sound familiar?
Well, that 'algorithm' has now hit Twitter, and users there are going nuts.
With a hashtag of #RIPTwitter, they're expressing their dismay...but it's not going to make a bit of difference.
Check the material in this RT article; here's an excerpt:
The change was reported by BuzzFeed on Saturday morning, amidst claims it would be implemented next week. By the same evening, the hashtag #RIPTwitter became the most discussed on the social network, and was attached to over 1 million new tweets, the vast majority of them on the broad spectrum between outrage to despair.
CEO Jack Dorsey was forced to acknowledge concerns late on Saturday, but did not directly deny that there would be an overhaul of the live feed
The exact nature of the update remains unconfirmed. Currently a Twitter user sees posts from its subscribed accounts in reverse chronological order, and none are missed out, even though a user may have to click several times to see older tweets.
The new algorithm may pick tweets that the social network believes are most relevant or popular, particularly for users who have been away for an extended period of time, or subscribe to too many accounts to easily scroll through all tweets. The mechanism may also allow sponsored tweets, which bring income to the California-based company, to appear more seamlessly.
Facebook has used an algorithm for its news feed since it was introduced a decade ago, a fact not lost on loyal Twitterati.
Twitter itself uses an optional algorithm, called ‘while you were away’ that curates tweets, as well as sorting out from millions of tweets when one types a keyword into its search box.
But, the biggest issue is likely to be whether users will be nudged hard towards the new mechanic, or left to make their choice as is convenient.
It appears that the bottom line is going to end up being this: You need to get used to the idea that you have to either stop using social networking media altogether and just fix your own "liked" pages yourself, checking them daily, sometimes several times a day, to see if there's anything new. Because when we here at Disclosure get "too offensive" for the major social networking sites, or are tagged (which we already are right now, on Fecesbook) as "not really media" (despite our phenomenal numbers in just six years' time), you're not going to see us there. And you surely remember what that was like a couple of weeks ago. If you don't want to do without us, set us as one of your top pages on ALL your social networking. Push back. Tell the ones who want to tell YOU what YOU should or should not be reading as NEWS or entertainment that you'll be deciding that for yourself, thank you very much. Set an RSS feed. Do what you can to control YOUR internet reading...because to the ones who say "Aw, algorithms aren't CENSORING!!"....they're wrong. Dead wrong. Algorithms are VERY MUCH censoring...when some'thing' chooses FOR you, you'd better believe it's censoring. And it's only going to get worse; so fight back now.
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Hit our Facebook page (yes we still have one), and this post on it if you'd like to discuss this subject on Facebook; and be sure you check your "get notifications" selection under the 'like' button on our page; recent Facebook upgrades have booted many of our followers off from getting our posts.