Who wants an algorithm to decide what they see?
After many years of protests from its users, Instagram has finally decided to offer us an option to display its timeline in reverse chronological mode, rather than force feeding us what an algorithm decides, supposedly based on the user’s preferences. The option cannot be activated by default, but can be chosen for each session.
Similarly, a few weeks ago, Twitter released a new default interface that arranged its display based on an algorithm, preventing users from being able to opt for the reverse chronological default and thus requiring an additional click to be able to view it. After protests from users, the company finally decided to cancel this change and return to the previous interface, which does allow the reverse chronological option to be set by default.
These are just two examples, but they caught my attention, because I too prefer the chronological over the algorithmic option, although I don’t know why. What leads us, despite the insistence of technology companies, to reject the algorithm, which is supposed to be based on our preferences, interests and previous behaviors, in favor of reverse chronological order?
My impression is that the reason is as simple as it is obvious: when we think of a timeline, we think of just that, a timeline, an order whose only criterion is time. A simple criterion…
