Introduction

It feels strange to think back to a time when we weren’t so concerned with social media algorithms. For years, we accepted this idea that algorithms were there to serve us more of what we love online. Which is true…to a certain degree. Since 2016, that rosier depiction of algorithms has completely disintegrated. Now when we talk about algorithms, we’re talking about issues like mental health, addiction, political interference, and government regulation. I wanted to get a better understanding of where we are now with social media algorithms. And it's a lot to unpack so I'm going to be tackling this topic in three separate episodes. Up first: what we know (and don’t know) about algorithms.