You have already practised deciding whether a source is reliable. But before you choose what to open, an app has already chosen what to show you, and in what order. The rules it uses are called an algorithm.
Today you will act as the algorithm and put a feed in order yourselves. Then you will see how the order changes when the feed has a different goal, and which posts lose out each time.
An algorithm is a set of rules an app uses to order posts, search results and recommendations. Recommendations are the videos, songs or things to buy that the app suggests to you. It is not a person reading your feed. It is a computer program that uses clues called signals, such as how new a post is, who shared it, how many people liked or watched it, and how long people spent on similar posts.
Imagine the same five posts are waiting. What changes when the feed is told to keep you scrolling, keep you informed, or show the newest first?
As a class, call out the two posts you would put at the top, and say why. Use the clues on each card, such as who it is from, how people reacted, how old it is, and whether it looks useful or just shocking.
Then choose a goal and watch the posts jump into the order a real app would use for it. Notice whether your top two stayed near the top. Be ready to name one post that moved, and one useful post that dropped down under that goal.
Be the algorithm: your feed
Now use the same thinking on a feed you really use, such as social media, videos, music or shopping. Work on your own and write four short notes.
- Name the feed and what you think it is mainly trying to do, such as keeping you scrolling, keeping you informed, showing the newest first, or something else.
- Write down two signals it seems to use, such as likes, watch-time, friends, things you bought, or how new a post is.
- Name one kind of post that probably rises in that feed and one kind that probably sinks, even if the sinking one is more useful.
- Finish the trade-off sentence in the box below. A trade-off is what you give up to get something you want. Put the feed's goal in the first gap and a kind of post that loses out in the second gap.
"When this feed is built for ___, the posts that lose out are ___."
Check that you have four short notes. When you have finished, share your trade-off sentence with a partner. If school rules block the app, work from what you remember about it.
If time is short, finish the notes at home and bring your trade-off sentence to share next time.
- Keep you scrolling puts the posts people react to and share most at the top, so useful but quiet posts sink.
- Keep you informed puts useful posts from trusted sources first, but these rarely get the most attention.
- Show newest first only looks at how new a post is, so a post can reach the top before anyone checks it is true.
Feeds, search results and recommendations are ordered for a reason. When you know it, you can ask why a post is there and what is missing.
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