Intuitive Feedback Loops

Social media feeds feel out of control. Sometime the exact right content is served, and other times it feels like the feed is stuck in a content rut. But changing the feed is difficult. Maybe un-subscribing from a few accounts will shift the algorithm. Or maybe spending less time looking at certain posts is what's needed to make the change. It's unclear because the algorithm is a black box. But what if users could take back control, setting the parameters of their algorithm?

This isn't far out of the realm of possibility. Rumors swirled that X was going to allow users to write their own algorithm. And while rudimentary, Bluesky gives users some basic controls to weight the algorithm controlling the feed.

But the task of tuning the algorithm doesn't need to be relegated to settings. Drawing inspiration from music production, I propose an alternative. The music editor Ableton enables users to control tracks by placing instrument and filter modules in a rack. A rack contains an instrument at the base. Effects modules can be added on later, altering and shaping the flavor of the sound produced by the virtual instrument. Now, imagine: instead of an instrument, the user chooses an algorithm and applies filters to alter and refine the content that populates their feed.

The form factors of both instruments and effects draw inspiration from amps, pedals, and analogue synthesizers. Knobs and dials give the user control over an array of complex technical parameters, such as timber, delay, wave type etc. The analogue inspired form factor makes the process of finding the right sound intuitive, expressive, and fun.

This approach could be applied to the algorithms controlling social media feeds. The algorithm module could include weights for different media types, thresholds for number of likes and follower count, inclusion of popular content, and so on. These controls could be arranged like an instrument, with changes updating the feed composition in real time.

The flavor of the feed could then be further refined with the addition of filter modules. These could be used to refine the time controls of the feed. Or these could take on the role of controlling muting, allowing the user to specify specific words or topics to exclude in a more creative and dynamic way. If you're seeing too much furry content, you could install the community created furry-o-filter to expunge the offending images from your timeline.

Filters could also be used as utilities, visualizing information such as a social graph. Embedded in the feed, a social graph could be interactive, serving as a valuable research tool.

The possibilities explode when these modules can be created by the community. Ableton has a rich developer community that contributes instruments and filters. Its exciting to imagine how social media could change with community created algorithms and filters that give creative control over their feed, shaping the experience through intuitive feedback mechanisms.

Community generated algorithms and filters would unleash boundless funny, creative, expressive, and artistic ways to control the content populating a feed. It would shift the dynamic from passive consumption to participation, where the user is invited to collaborate in the creation of their experience using intuitive controls that make abstract variables intuitively understood through tight feedback loops.

What's most exciting is the possibility of community created algorithms. Imagine if someone like coldhealing, known for his cultivation of a fine tuned algorithm, could release these settings to other users. It would be thrilling to swap out algorithm modules and experience a familiar platform in a completely different way.

Folklore is using collective sense-making to generate a community mind, trained on the documents and conversations taking place in their group chat. Imagine being able to turn the community wisdom of a knowledge community outwards, employing it help parse social feeds.

This offers a potential novel profit model for creators and communities. What comes after group-chats and newsletters? Perhaps the next step in the sense-making arms race will be subscribing to finely-honed feeds, crafted by knowledge communities.

It's clear that people need greater control of the black box of their social feeds. Controlling the parameters of a feed doesn't need to be relegated to settings. It can be joyful, expressive, and informative in its own right. Users deserve to have the guess-work taken out of tuning the perfect feed. And users deserve to be able to control their feeds through playful, informative, and intuitive feedback mechanisms.