BackMatter Through the Looking Glass
How Algorithms Shape the Staff’s Experience Online
Q: When you open Instagram, what is the first post you see that feels like it was delivered by an algorithmic force?
“Most of the accounts I follow on Instagram have fervently and outwardly issued their support for liberating Palestine. The first post I see when I open Instagram is from @wizard_bisan1, a Palestinian journalist and activist documenting the war from the frontlines.”
“My phone is paying attention to where I actively seek internships. I got a post from the Institute for Public Architecture, which was seeking a Research Assistant.”
“Lindsay Lohan on Jimmy Fallon. This feels like HYPER generic pop culture. I don’t think I’m interested, yet I watch the whole thing.”
Q: When you swipe through one or two Instagram Stories, what is the first ad that populates? Do you feel like it says anything about you?
“Louis Cole show at Brooklyn Steel. I don’t see a lot of live music and only know one song by this guy. Feels pretty random, besides the fact that I live in Brooklyn.”
“It’s @nytcooking. Yes, I watch tons of cooking videos without being bothered to try them out.”
“Peacock ad for streaming. I think they saw that I canceled my Hulu and Disney+ subscriptions recently.”
Q: When you open Facebook, what is the suggested content and what do you feel it says about you?
“A group called The Cult of Crab where users post memes praising crustaceans. I think this is because I am part of one ironic Facebook group called 'a group where we all pretend to be moths,' where members post about obsessions with lamps.”
“It’s an ad for a jazz concert called Jazzis. I often play indie music and bossa nova when writing, so maybe they want me to go out for some live music.”
Q: If you have Facebook and Instagram, what differences do you see in the recommended content? Similarities?
“The humor of the recommended content on Instagram is a lot more sharp and quick to consume. Instagram is often coated in quick laughs or aesthetics in either video or photographic form.”
“Instagram recommends music and fashion while Facebook recommends interiors and apartments–both very different facets of myself.”
“Facebook has remnants from when I was twelve so the suggested content feels skewed and less relevant to what I like now.”
Q: Last year, X added a For You tab in the app. It is primarily video content to rival TikTok and uses an algorithm to load content for each user. When you click on For You, what loads? Does it say anything about you, or does it say something about the algorithm?
“I CAN’T STAND THIS NEW FEATURE! I TRIED TO GET RID OF IT BUT THERE’S NO WAY TO. When I went on it just now, it started showing me verified accounts of obscure memes/historic/fun facts. Feels very much like a bunch of advertisements vying for a click.”
“I actually prefer the For You tab, I think there’s more interesting content there. Maybe I’m just not following enough users for the Following tab.”
“I see a lot of posts relating to the most recent Dune film release and a live NBA game showing up at the top of my screen. I think Twitter is just trying to help keep me up to date with current events.”
“A post from someone I don’t follow retweeting an article from the Daily Star about the Kate Middleton saga. I find it amusing because it’s not a lie that I’ve been discussing Kate Middleton with friends–I guess my love of gossip still stands.”
Q: Spend a few minutes on TikTok. What content pops up? How does the content suggested to you feel compared to Facebook, Instagram, and X?
“TikTok is hyperspecific and also timely content as opposed to something like Instagram.”
“Cooking videos and that 'Twin… where have you been?' sound. It feels like I just so happened to like one video that had cooking or this sound and then the app spammed me with it.”
“TikTok is now the trendsetting platform whereas Instagram is the trend following one.”
“I feel like Instagram is more personal because the accounts I follow are mostly friends and people I know. TikTok is more general.”
Q: If you use Spotify, how do you feel about your Daylist?
“I like the idea of getting recs based on other music the algorithm thinks I already like, but usually, there are songs I’ve heard but just haven’t personally enjoyed. I don’t usually listen to my Daylists because I’d rather just listen to my own playlist.”
“[It] is pretty accurate to a lot of my listening habits, but the entire concept feels like a gimmicky marketing package.”
“I wish Spotify would pick up on the nuances of its listeners a little bit more, rather than recycling the same thing over and over again and calling it by a different, meaningless name.”
“Honestly, I never look at my Daylist, it’s often just generic indie, so I gravitate towards my Discover Weekly playlist instead.”
Q: If you use Apple Music, how do you feel about the automated playlists made for you?
“I think my Apple Music knows that I’m not usually looking for any new music when I go to the listening page since the majority of what pops up is stations inspired by my most listened-to artists.”
“Apple Music is trying to figure out who I am while also sprinkling in some Dua Lipa to balance things out.”
“My Favorites Mix includes so much music I listened to in 2018 that I don’t really care for now. Apple Music gets its recommendations right about 50 percent of the time. I’m more pleased with the new music they introduce me to than the playlists and stations they make that regurgitate the music I listened to in high school.”
“The New Music Mix has a ton of content I’m already familiar with, like the new Beyoncé singles, as well as the new Dua Lipa 'Training Season' song. The majority of this playlist consists of songs I’m not familiar with, but Nicki Minaj’s 'FTCU' shows up in the middle, which is fun.”
Q: Which algorithm seems to know you best and which one fails to capture your taste?
“The Facebook algorithm knows me the worst because I’m on that social media platform the least … I feel that my Apple Music app knows me the most personally though since it often reflects my emotional state.”
“I feel the Instagram algorithm in the Explore tab knows me the best. It may also be due to the fact that I spend the most time there.”
“Spotify knows me best. It takes songs that I really do listen to and makes recs based on that. I find with apps like Instagram and Twitter the algorithm just throws anything I interact with in my face; it doesn’t matter if I actually enjoy it.”
“I feel like Instagram doesn’t know me, but most of the time TikTok does. Sometimes it tries to insert things I don’t like and I’m quick to tell it no.”
Some pop-culture keywords recurred throughout the staff’s responses. Tallied here are some trends that stood out in their online experiences:
Animals in Total: 11.4%
Cat(s): 7.6%
Memes: 5.7%
Film: 4.8%
Design (fashion, interior, architecture, art): 3.8%
Cooking: 3.8%
NYC: 2.9%
Dua Lipa: 2.9%
Dune: 2.9%
Kate Middleton: 1.9%
Palestine: 1.9%