Yes, lol, terrible idea to stop tech giants from hiding posts from your friends and family so you they can show you AI slop.
Yes, lol, terrible idea to stop tech giants from hiding posts from your friends and family so you they can show you AI slop.
You used to be at El Reg, so you are aware that reverse chronological is *also* an algorithm and has downsides, not least that if you or in the UK and your mate is in Australia you never see anything that they post in the middle of the night because it's swamped by day. There's no happy medium.
Sure, but you also recognize that when people refer to algorithmic timelines, they're referring specifically to newsfeeds where the tech company decides on your behalf what you see, based on their estimations of what'll have the most engagement. That seems a bit authoritarian to me! Idk.
If we're talking about "authoritarian" how about governments telling people what maths they are allowed to use. Read the archives of El Reg and you'll find me/others cited re: governments attempting to prevent unwashed folk getting access to strong cryptography. Also: tommorris.org/posts/2025/w...
None of which has any bearing on this very specific point about social media platforms and the way they obfuscate content posted by those in the person's own orbit, simply because they believe that they can recommend other stuff that'll increase engagement. Slippery slopes don't wash, sorry.