Why I hate social medias algorithms, and why they're bad for mental health (in my opinion)
My contribution to Twitter's firedump.
Tumblr doesn't really count, 'cause it can push popular fandoms, memes and whatnot. The big problem comes with the algorithm looking at trauma that the viewer finds relatable and going, "you know what? You liked this joke/revenge post/ about no one believing in this person's abilities, let me show you more".
It's even worse if the viewer is someone without an active social life; 'cause then they start being flooded with posts and remarks that a creator made to vent ( to put a bad feeling into something you can share, THEN go on with your life with its ups and downs), and it starts feeling like the only reality.
A couple of examples:
You'd like to get a degree in STEM (doesn't matter which kind), and you find a joke about a PhD lab not having any money. It's true, what a relatable scenario, lol, yada yada yada. Then you start getting info about all kinds of bad experiences, low income, sexism, or racism. And DON'T GET ME WRONG, it's there, but there's also a better, nicer side that you rarely get to see online, or that sticks with you less than the bad experience.
If you have an eating disorder, chances are you'll use social medias to look for ways to care about your mental health, to look for stories similar to your own. And of course you're going to find food schedules, or fitness plans; so the algorithm will start giving you more, and even if they make you uncomfortable you're gonna look at them 'cause breaking a vicious cycle of comparing to others is hard.
As a woman in the workplace, you're gonna like and relate to other women's stories of injustice (rightfully so), untill you'll be having the constant buzz in your brain that someone will undermine you from the very beginning.
It counts for every minority, for every little thing that can upset you.
Worst part THERE IS NEVER A SOLUTION. The algorithm will show you RIGHTEOUS complaints, one after the other, and NEVER show you the other side.
In my country public research scientists get paid a misery? Show me the private lab job that can make me do what I love and pay me well.
I feel like the gender gap of pay is too big, is there anywhere else I could apply for a job?
How can I be assertive in the workplace? Where can I get help if the situation starts to spiral down?
The algorithm (especially to young adults and late teens) has this huge power to put you down, to give you false expectations because we tend to see the worst side of things as the "crude reality".
And every time you. Will. Look. At. It.
Doesn't matter how discouraged you are. The algorithm doesn't realize when it's pushing onto you something toxic. And between a meme and a video of an Indian guy building a pool, you'll find the short, the image, or the text that WILL be relatable to you, WILL make you doubt your choices and WILL give you a distorted view of reality.
Take it from me. When I started uni after covid I was convinced I wouldn't make it for this and that; that I'd never get a chance at a decent job, that I'd be criticized for god knows what trivial idiosyncrasy.
Spoiler alert: it didn't happen. It wasn't a walk in the park, but it didn't get even close to the total obliteration that social medias had prepared me to.
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