Algorithms remove the joy of discovery.

When I first signed up to Medium, it didn’t know my interests, so would serve me random articles. As I started to read more and click more – it would narrow its recommendations, with articles more likely to resonate. Now my recommendations are an echo chamber of the same boring themes and regurgitated ideas.

There is no option to remove my preferences. No option to say “don’t try to please me”. No option to ask for unfiltered randomness. Not even a random button any more.

All I want online is to be surprised. And the relentless drive for “relevance” gets in the way of that.

Relevance for me, is something I am not already aware of, something I don’t know about, something new and lateral.

Where are the algorithms for that? For me? To broaden, rather than optimise?