Understanding Algorithms

an interview with Douglas Rushkoff

Hi! Tell us a bit about your background and your work.

Hi. My names is Douglas Rushkoff. I write book about media, technology, and change. I used to direct plays, but I got interested in technology and the Internet because they were more interactive. I wrote a bunch of books on how computers and the Internet could help people of all kinds. Then, I got more concerned about the way these technologies are being used, so I wrote more books and made documentaries about how I thought we were going wrong.

What are social media algorithms?

Social media are platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and X (Twitter). When you click on a particular post or video, the platform sees you doing that. The platform then adjust the rest of the posts it shows you based on your interests. The tiny programs that the platform uses to record your clicks, predict your next clicks, or even influence your tastes and opinions, are called algorithms.

How do companies benefit from algorithms?

Social media companies don't charge you money to use them. That’s because they get their money in another way: advertising. Many of the posts you see are ads. But the companies paying for those ads want to reach the right people. They may want to send an ad for a bicycle to a young healthy person, but an ad for a wheelchair to an older person or someone with a disability. How can they figure out who is who? Algorithms help them track the interests of users, and then deliver ads that target those interests. Then the platform can charge more for its ads.

What’s the connection between the data we share and how algorithms work?

Algorithms are programs that use information to make decisions. By comparison, if you are using a calculator the calculator needs you to enter a few numbers in order to give an answer. It needs to know which numbers you are adding together in order to give you the sum. In the same way, social media algorithms can use data – information – about you in order to figure out who you are, and what pictures or videos you will click on, or even what ads you will like.

Some people say that algorithms understand us better than we understand ourselves. Do you agree?

Algorithms are not alive. They don’t think. But sometimes algorithms can calculate things about you that you don’t know yourself. This is a little hard to understand, but most basically: Algorithms are collecting information about lots and lots of people. There are millions of people clicking on things on Facebook or Instagram. So this means they have a lot of statistics on what people do. Statistics just means lots of combined information.

So the algorithms may find out that tall people do one thing online, while short people do something else. Or that tall people who speak English and have red cars are more likely to vote in a certain way. They don’t care why. They only care that a “statistical correlation” exists. A correlation just means that if one set of things is true, it is likely to mean something else is true. (If a person is buying peanut butter, jelly and bread, there is a strong likelihood they are going to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich).

Because algorithms have so much data, they may be able to figure out things about us we do not yet know ourselves. For instance, if the phone can see we are moving more slowly, or making more mistakes, they may be able to calculate that we are getting sick before we know this ourselves.

What are some pros and cons of algorithms for social media users?

The pros are that your social media site may bring you more of the things you want to see. If the application knows you like Taylor Swift and don’t like Grace Abrams, it will bring you more Swift and less Abrams. You won’t have to scroll through things you don’t like.

The downside is they will do anything they can to keep you on the platform. So they may show you more and more extreme versions of things. They will frighten you or excite you in any way possible. If you liked one violent post, they will show you more violent posts. If you got interested in a strange conspiracy, they will send you more and weirder conspiracy theories. The algorithms can make you more extreme. If a platform learns that you are worried about your weight or your appearance, it will do whatever it can to make you more worried about your weight and appearance. This could lead to very unhealthy beliefs and behaviors.

Are there other online scenarios beyond social media where algorithms are at work?

Yes! The online universe is very big and complex. People interact with algorithms whenever they are using an interactive technology. Music streaming platforms, video platforms, Netflix, newspapers, shopping sites. Almost anytime you use your phone or a computer, you are going onto the Internet and interacting with media companies or shopping companies that are using algorithms to observe your behavior and then to influence it.

What advice would you give someone who wants to minimize or at least challenge an algorithm’s influence on their online experience?

The best thing a person can do is try to spend some time in the real world, not looking at a phone or computer. I know that’s really hard today, but if you can set aside even a few minutes a day to be with a friend and not using the phone, it is profoundly good for your health and thinking. Algorithms make us uneasy. That’s part of their purpose. People who are anxious are easier to influence. So we all really need to find ways to reset. The best way is to spend at least few minutes a day with other people, but not using devices.

Another way to lessen the impact of social media algorithms on us is to remain aware of their presence. Take even one second to choose whether you want to watch that next video. I try to stay away from platforms that keep offering a new post or video. I don’t get much value from scrolling through media. When we scroll through media on an app like Instagram or TikTok, we are not in charge. We are being led around by an algorithm that wants us to feel bad about ourselves, and buy more things from their advertisers.

If you could change one thing about the way algorithms work today, what would it be and why?

Most of the companies that use algorithms are called social networks, and don’t have to respect any laws about their content. In reality, if a company is choosing what we see and what we don’t see, they should be classified as a “publisher.” A publisher is like a TV channel or newspaper, where there are editors choosing the articles we see – and also responsible for everything they say. If a newspaper says something untrue about you, they can get in trouble. If a social media company says something untrue about you, they don’t get in any trouble. I think the laws must be changed. Because social media companies are using algorithms to choose what you see and what you don’t see, they need to be treated like publishers. They should be held responsible for what they send you.

How might algorithms evolve in the future, especially with new developments in artificial intelligence?

It is very hard to predict the future. That’s why I am not a futurist. I write about the present. If we look at the present for hints of where things are going, then I would say AI will be used to learn more about how to influence people. AI will have all the knowledge of all the psychologists and advertising people who ever lived, and use new and more techniques to convince people to do things that may not be in their own best interests.

About Douglass Rushkoff

Douglas Rushkoff is the author of Program or Be Programmed, a deep dive into one of this century's most potent questions: do we direct technology, or do we let ourselves be directed by it? To learn more about his work, check out his podcast, Substack, and website.

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