This piece might interest only a few; Librarians may discover something new. Full interview in URL =========================== 3) ALGORITHMS TOUCH EVERYTHING: My wardrobe does not include a tinfoil hat, but I am very troubled at how much algorithms control what I see. Facebook, for example, doesn't distribute a Page's post to everyone who likes that page. It uses a number of factors to determine how many people get a post. What are those factors? Facebook isn't tellin'. Google controls what you see in its search results, and in what order, with other algorithms. What factors are included? There's a lot of guessing, but nobody knows for sure but Google. I'm sure the rationale to keep these things secret is so that people can't game them. But there's SO much potential for abuse. Facebook has already admitted it manipulated user feeds for an experiment and research has suggested that social networks can fool people into thinking that things are common and popular when they're not. Is it *that* big a step to imagine Facebook manipulating organic page reach in favor of a political candidate? Add to that the fact that Millenials use Facebook as a primary source of political news - - and can you see how much power Facebook holds on a lot of fronts, using distribution algorithms that are not in the least bit transparent? http://www.bestbizweb.com/thinking-out-loud/a-conversation-with-tara-calisha... -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.