Algoprints in the sands of society

As of April 2022, there were more than five billion internet users worldwide, which is 63% of the global population. 4.7 billion of the total users were from diverse social media platforms. By now, it is almost impossible to imagine a world without the internet, which is a core pillar of the modern information society. In fact, digital activities and real-life experiences boundaries are dissolving as they both affect one another but more so is the enormous effect of the internet on real life. (Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech, 2019).

Algorithms, characterized by fast connection and information exchange amongst billions of people worldwide, power the aforementioned digital spaces. Algorithms are like recipes for the internet, a foundational building block of the digital world. They are often shaping our experiences online in more ways than we realize. Nonetheless, the increased use (boosted by design) of algorithm-powered digital platforms like social media is linked with low levels of productivity and long-term memory; exacerbated media use addiction for individuals whilst leading to increased disinformation and misinformation; amplification of racism, sexism, ableism, and polarization for the collective society; thus, creating a collective hat works against its majority (Center for Humane Tech, 2020).

Concrete examples are the gamer-gate chronicles perpetuated on Twitter in 2014, and Andrew Tate's misogynistic movement on TikTok in 2022, in both cases, different platforms have the same underlying algorithm. Nowadays technology is much more advanced, and online misogynistic acts are fast translating to real life. The following paragraphs show how algorithms create impressions over the sands of society, shaping it.

Andrew Tate is a 35-year-old content creator and former professional kickboxer. Tate runs the “Hustler University”, a subscription-based service where 'students' gain access to a discord channel where they are 'taught' how to become richer. (Daily Mail, 2022) With his University, he manipulated (or not) the Tik-Tok algorithm to reach 12 billion views by asking his "students" to use the hashtag #Andrewtate (HopeNotHate, 2022). The algorithm is designed to work this way - to peddle attention. Andrew's misogynistic statements were typically passed on, subtly, as satires or jokes. In one of his videos, “explaining his reasons for his move to Romania, he suggested that was because it would be easier to evade rape charges. This is “probably 40% of the reason”, he says, adding: “I'm not a rapist, but I like the idea of just being able to do what I want. I like being free.” (Daily Mail, 2022) As far back as 2017, before he was banned from Twitter for inciting violence against women, Tate opined that in the real world, women should take some responsibility for being raped. Conversations like these began to make the rounds on TikTok with a huge amount of follower-ship and video remixes by young men, usually between 18-25 years old (Townsend, 2022).

In my conversation with Sol, a 21-year-old digital native, she said, "TikTok started with posting dance videos with your friends. It was just regular social media comments. And then it kind of shifted to the extremes". In Sol's experience, her 23-year-old ex-boyfriend initially followed the trends and posts on Andrew Tate to get more followers. Over the next few weeks, Sol noticed that she could pick up Andrew's misogynistic remarks and sometimes mannerisms in her partner's conversations with others and sometimes herself - this was the beginning of their value clash, which eventually led to the end of the relationship.

Although Andrew has been banned from mainstream social media platforms, his videos and their effect continue circulating social media and invariably, real life. Apparently, algorithms are better at spreading harmful content than rooting them out. “Having someone like Tate get 12 billion views is good for the bottom line but bad for society.” (The Conversation, 2022).

Re-Imagining Algorithms

“Increasingly we are becoming a society that takes its life direction from the palm of our hands-our smartphones” (Markoff in Rainie and Anderson, 2017). From what is the best pizza in town, our choice of a spouse, and what to do in the face of a daunting health crisis, all of it, is algorithmically generated. The current programming of algorithms has made information and the world accessible, but from this essay's point of view, it is doing much more harm. What if algorithms could be reimagined differently from what we have today?

Over 5 billion people worldwide are currently deemed pawns in the hands of the highest bidding company on ads. Products and services are no longer in the business of needs or want, just ads; what if algorithms are powered by the most authentic and verifiable information rather than ads? Surveillance capitalism is one of many ways to organize digital spaces; better ones can be built with technological designs with a spirit of public good and ethical imperatives at their core. In this sense, people can make more informed decisions rather than potentially breeding a world of tech zombies. Ethical designs and monetization are not mutually exclusive.

Sadly, the way algorithms are currently programmed, fosters a digital context that deepens divides and promotes polarization. Social and political divisions are abetted by design, as algorithm-driven categorizations and classifications steer people into echo chambers of reinforced media content (Rainie & Anderson, 2017). Moreover, there are rising extremes of separation regarding worldviews and ideologies among rapidly diverging subnational contexts as algorithms are created to confirm the user's pattern of interests. Moreover, if the interface determines that I am female, indigenous, middle-class, and educated, I will get different results and opportunities than a male, caucasian, lower-class.(Rainie & Anderson, 2017 So the ease of life/time will be increased, but at the behest of inequalities, exclusion, and unchallenged interests; Perhaps I can have an option (a switch off/on algo-button) to decide what is more important to me without entirely leaving that decision to an algorithm programmed by everyone else but me.

The most recurring con of digital spaces, mainly social media platforms, is their addictive design, as mentioned above. It may seem as though our behavior around smartphones results from our wiring, “(...)but it is more thought-out than that behind all the flashing and the beeping lays what is called behavioral design” (Schwär, 2021) which keeps us coming back. “The more time we spend on social platforms, the more advertising revenue flows into the pockets of tech companies - attention is currency; infinite scrolling is the new smoking” (Joshua Milburn, 2017). In this sense, compulsive designs of motivation, reward, and reinforcement loops are the order of the day.

In Bentham's panopticon, supervisors are the moderators of the behaviors of cell occupants. In 2022, algorithms are to society what supervisors are to cell occupants. Like other industries, the digital economy is at a tipping point. Just as other enterprises are seeking more inclusive and environment-friendly solutions, the digital space needs more ethical designs and responsible algorithms.