Freedom in The Algorithms World?

The world has become increasingly complex. And Big Data are a good symptom of it: 90% of the data in the world today have been created in the last two years (1).

And the counterpart of big data in the content world is called “content overload”. So to face that, we uses algorithms that make choices for us. And we really need them to get some value from this content profusion.

On the brand side, the content overload on the web means that you have to stand out from the crowd. The recipe is now known : you need to develop a Brand narrative, and speak authentically with your own brand “voice” & the appropriate tone. Social media — conversational by essence — are a good way to express a brand voice.

If you are a social media platform offering mainly a customer experience, you need to keep people using it, because it is where you sell advertisement.So that kind of platform helps you get value out of the content it hosts.

Getting value from content overload with algorithms

The Facebook way is to use an algorithm to prevent you from seeing too much content. The good thing being that since recently, they let you control some parameters that introduce choice in their algorithm, and therefore freedom (2) .

Twitter has a different approach, letting you control everything, and create your own value out of what is available. You see all the content of all the people you follow. And you can follow as well what is posted by a few people only with lists.But as more and more people are using the network, it could become increasingly difficult to get value from it. So far, the network has started using algorithm already. On the sides of your screen they thus display “you might also like” suggestions, for example. And you are still fully “in control”.

Allowing choice & randomness

A good algorithm to me is indeed one that help you get a better experience. It can learn from your habits to offer more convenience and keep getting value, but at the same time leaving some space to (at least) a few choices in the way it takes control.

I like this quote: “It is the hability to choose that makes us human” Madeleine Lengle (3).

Besides choice, another significant aspect for me is to introduce some kind of randomness.Innovation indeed often occurs out of serendipity : finding things that one was not looking for.

I like to be surprised and read/watch/listen to unusual things too. And I do think one should take into account a “right to serendipity” in the way one conceive those content algorithms.

I like this quote from Winston Churchill: “The element of the unexpected and the unforseeable… saves us from falling into the mechanical thraldom of the logicians”.

I have nothing against logic, but there is no reason the algorithms world should not be one where freedom applies.

What do you think?

Originally published on Linkedin Pulse on the 11th of July 2015.

Expressing here my own views — Follow me on Twitter : @ThibaultH1

(1) http://www-01.ibm.com/software/data/bigdata/what-is-big-data.html

(2) http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/07/09/facebook-gives-users-more-control-over-their-news-feeds/

(3) quote read in Essentialism from Greg Mc Keown.

(4) quoted in Churchill’s Wit, Richard M. Langworth