I just sat down to write, but before committing words to my document, I took out my phone to check my calendar. Then I got a chat notification from a friend, who sent me a link to some meme on Instagram. Might as well check it out. Beneath the post are a bunch of short videos queued up, algorithmically chosen to enchant me: one is about ravens in the Tower of London, another about Indonesian stree...
The article presents a compelling case study of the insidious effects of algorithmic amplification and the potential for corporate design to actively undermine human well-being. The narrative effectively uses personal anecdote to illustrate a widespread problem – the seductive pull of social media’s endless scroll – while simultaneously grounding the issue in ongoing legal challenges. The core argument, that platform design is “defective” and exploits vulnerabilities, is a significant shift from...