Decoding the Algorithm - with Nick Diakopoulos

Selfie Reflective

Nicholas Diakopoulos is an Assistant Professor at Northwestern University ~

A few months back, I started writing one particular word a lot on my social media feeds. This word was 'influencer'. When I launched this podcast, l started out by reflecting a lot on that term in relation to how my retired blogging brand saw me become embroiled in the influencer life. A few weeks into this podcast, and something very curious started to happen. I began to notice advertisements for gaining followers, collaborating with brands and building expertise popping up on my feeds. I realised that my social media algorithms had me all wrong. I wasn’t writing the word influencer because I wanted to be one - I was writing it to query the game! I’m sure you, yourself, have experienced that feeling of triumph when the algorithm delivers you up something that’s starkly and hilariously inaccurate - it feels like your real life and your online life are still separate - but should we be looking with more scrutiny towards the algorithms that inform our experiences, and therefore our culture online?

In this episode, we’re speaking with Nick Diakopoulos, a professor at Northwestern University. He is appointed in the Department of Communications Studies, and also Computer Science, which is a rare combination of disciplines to be involved with. He runs a research lab at Northwestern called the Computational Journalism Lab, where he studies and explores aspects of the role of automation and algorithms in news production, algorithmic accountability and transparency, and social media in news contexts. He is author of the book, Automating the News: How Algorithms are Rewriting the Media, published by Harvard University Press in 2019.

(Believe it or not) Today, Nick and I discuss algorithms. What are some of the surprising ways that different algorithms might be affecting our lives? How is our media being generated and aggregated online? What was recently confirmed by data about our Instagram algorithm? And, with some of the biases that are built into the algorithms we interact with on a daily basis, what is the solution for ensuring that algorithms are being created with humanity in mind?

Shownotes:

Check out Nick's personal website here, learn more about his book, Automating the News: How Algorithms are Rewriting the Media, and follow the progress of AlgorithmTips.org.

Tweet your thoughts and reflections on this episode to @SelfieReflect or email [e-mail].