We Need Social Platforms with Simple Dynamics

In my last post I wrote that Twitter Analytics was a reality check. It gives you a realistic idea of how many people actually have a chance to see what you post.

One of my #PSEWEB friends, Melissa, agreed. She said the percent of followers that get exposed to your tweets even makes Facebook’s algorithm look good.

@autoblot agreed! We see about 10-20% across the accounts I manage. Makes Facebook's algorithm look good cc @tomcochrane @Smay #peaktwitter

— Melissa Mae Cheater (@mmbc) March 14, 2015

That may be true (and thanks for replying Melissa). But I want to point out that I still think Twitter is a good communications platform. It’s just a “different animal.”

@mmbc @tomcochrane @Smay Twitter's a different animal. I like that it's not managed by an algorithm. We need some platforms like that.

— Jared Lenover (@autoblot) March 14, 2015

Both Facebook and Twitter can be amazing if used well. But one of the things I like about Twitter is that your home feed isn’t controlled by a fancy algorithm. It’s temporal instead. The messages show up as they’re posted, with no extra filtering (except for promoted tweets).

You can definitely argue that the algorithms Facebook and Google use to show us relevant information can be useful. But we also need platforms that are more random and free-wheeling, so that we get exposed to things outside our “filter bubble.”

This TED Talk by Eli Pariser explains the idea of a “filter bubble.” It’s a good one to watch if you have a few minutes.

Algorithms on social networks can be helpful. But we also need platforms that have simpler dynamics — where we can see a more unfiltered view of what other people are thinking and doing.

Do you think I’m hanging on too tight to that idea?