WEBVTT 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:04.160 The internet knows too much about me, you guys. 00:00:04.419 --> 00:00:07.280 It knows what I watch, what I search, what I 00:00:07.280 --> 00:00:10.720 ignore, what I almost buy. It knows what makes 00:00:10.720 --> 00:00:13.380 me laugh, what makes me angry, and apparently 00:00:13.380 --> 00:00:17.699 what it thinks I should do next. I hate that. 00:00:17.960 --> 00:00:20.300 I don't want the internet to know me better, 00:00:20.399 --> 00:00:35.619 man. I want it to leave me alone. Hey gang, welcome 00:00:35.619 --> 00:00:38.880 back to Egotastic Fun Time, where we talk about 00:00:38.880 --> 00:00:42.539 technology, media, pop culture, and all the weird 00:00:42.539 --> 00:00:46.240 ways they mess with being human. Today, I want 00:00:46.240 --> 00:00:49.479 to talk about something I have grown increasingly 00:00:49.479 --> 00:00:53.880 tired of. The algorithm. Not just YouTube, I 00:00:53.880 --> 00:00:57.259 mean the systems that follow us around online. 00:00:57.640 --> 00:01:00.960 Study what we do, build profiles of us, and then 00:01:00.960 --> 00:01:04.439 try to predict what we're going to click on next. 00:01:04.670 --> 00:01:07.930 Because apparently simply existing online is 00:01:07.930 --> 00:01:11.430 no longer enough. Now we have to be analyzed 00:01:11.430 --> 00:01:14.390 or analized, depending on how you pronounce it. 00:01:14.430 --> 00:01:17.209 I'm kind of sick of being analyzed. I don't like 00:01:17.209 --> 00:01:21.689 it one bit. I want complete autonomy, Ron Swanson 00:01:21.689 --> 00:01:25.030 style. I want to be free, free to randomly become 00:01:25.030 --> 00:01:28.090 interested in something without a computer immediately 00:01:28.090 --> 00:01:33.629 deciding, aha, JP likes this now. Send him 500 00:01:33.629 --> 00:01:37.829 more. And if you enjoy conversations about technology, 00:01:38.129 --> 00:01:41.010 media, and how all this stuff affects actual 00:01:41.010 --> 00:01:44.010 human beings, subscribing helps these episodes 00:01:44.010 --> 00:01:47.870 find the right people. So thanks. But ironically, 00:01:48.290 --> 00:01:51.370 today I'd also like the algorithm to mind its 00:01:51.370 --> 00:01:54.430 own damn business. Despite what you may think, 00:01:54.930 --> 00:01:57.909 Australia is not just the overseas version of 00:01:57.909 --> 00:02:01.150 Florida. Sometimes Aussies can do some pretty 00:02:01.150 --> 00:02:04.859 smart brain stuff. And Australia has been pushing 00:02:04.859 --> 00:02:09.500 an idea I actually love. Giving people more control 00:02:09.500 --> 00:02:13.099 over whether social media platforms use algorithmic 00:02:13.099 --> 00:02:17.120 recommendations to decide what they see. Imagine 00:02:17.120 --> 00:02:19.659 that. You open an app, and instead of the app 00:02:19.659 --> 00:02:22.400 saying, here's what we think will keep you staring 00:02:22.400 --> 00:02:26.080 at your phone, you get to say, no thanks, just 00:02:26.080 --> 00:02:28.699 show me the people I actually chose to follow. 00:02:28.900 --> 00:02:32.849 What a radical concept. Choice. Because here's 00:02:32.849 --> 00:02:35.270 one thing that really bothers me about algorithms. 00:02:35.430 --> 00:02:37.909 They're not just recommending things anymore. 00:02:38.229 --> 00:02:42.110 They're building a model of us. Every click is 00:02:42.110 --> 00:02:45.490 a signal. Every pause is a signal. Every search 00:02:45.490 --> 00:02:49.370 is a signal. Every video you finish, every video 00:02:49.370 --> 00:02:52.810 you abandon, every topic you come back to. Even 00:02:52.810 --> 00:02:55.689 when you're just quietly watching, you're still 00:02:55.689 --> 00:02:59.699 feeding the machine information. And I'm very 00:02:59.699 --> 00:03:03.659 much a fly on the wall kind of guy. I like observing. 00:03:03.900 --> 00:03:06.020 I don't like everybody knowing everything about 00:03:06.020 --> 00:03:08.319 me. I pretty much don't like everybody knowing 00:03:08.319 --> 00:03:11.840 anything about me. But online, even being a fly 00:03:11.840 --> 00:03:14.400 on the wall apparently means somebody wants to 00:03:14.400 --> 00:03:17.840 put a tiny tracking collar on the fly. I had 00:03:17.840 --> 00:03:21.099 an experience a while back that really bothered 00:03:21.099 --> 00:03:24.310 me. I don't get bothered by a lot. like overtly, 00:03:24.509 --> 00:03:27.889 but this overtly bothered me. I was, I was raising 00:03:27.889 --> 00:03:30.289 my voice a little bit, which is definitely not 00:03:30.289 --> 00:03:34.009 my style. One morning, my wife briefly mentioned 00:03:34.009 --> 00:03:36.689 Hansen while we were getting ready for work. 00:03:36.870 --> 00:03:39.949 Just a normal private conversation. Just a quick 00:03:39.949 --> 00:03:43.189 little aside. I didn't search Hansen. I didn't 00:03:43.189 --> 00:03:46.349 type Hansen into YouTube. Definitely didn't do 00:03:46.349 --> 00:03:49.629 that. And I didn't go looking for Oombop. And 00:03:49.629 --> 00:03:53.189 later in the day, YouTube recommended oom bop 00:03:53.189 --> 00:03:56.270 to me. Now, can I prove my phone heard that conversation 00:03:56.270 --> 00:04:00.090 and use it to recommend music to me? No, I can't. 00:04:00.229 --> 00:04:03.849 Maybe it was a coincidence, a crazy coincidence. 00:04:04.310 --> 00:04:06.909 Maybe just household behavior. Maybe some other 00:04:06.909 --> 00:04:10.389 combination of data suddenly made Hansen irrelevant. 00:04:10.650 --> 00:04:14.849 I don't know why. I have no idea why, but that 00:04:14.849 --> 00:04:17.009 almost makes it worse because then I'm sitting 00:04:17.009 --> 00:04:20.370 there. I'm just thinking, how did you know what 00:04:20.370 --> 00:04:24.120 information made that specific recommendations 00:04:24.120 --> 00:04:27.240 suddenly make sense to you. That's really creepy, 00:04:27.500 --> 00:04:29.800 guys. I don't want a machine constantly trying 00:04:29.800 --> 00:04:33.899 to solve the mystery of JP. I contain multitudes. 00:04:33.980 --> 00:04:36.399 Stop trying to figure me out. And that is where 00:04:36.399 --> 00:04:39.420 the argument gets bigger than privacy. It's about 00:04:39.420 --> 00:04:42.980 autonomy. Tech companies will tell you personalization 00:04:42.980 --> 00:04:45.959 makes the internet better. Sure, I guess sometimes 00:04:45.959 --> 00:04:49.019 it does. Recommendations can be useful. I've 00:04:49.019 --> 00:04:52.040 discovered music, movies, shows, and creators 00:04:52.040 --> 00:04:55.259 I might never have found otherwise. But convenience 00:04:55.259 --> 00:04:58.759 is not the same thing as freedom. Because the 00:04:58.759 --> 00:05:01.839 algorithm doesn't just react to your interests. 00:05:02.040 --> 00:05:04.680 It can shape them. Click one angry video and 00:05:04.680 --> 00:05:07.439 you may get another and another and another. 00:05:07.560 --> 00:05:09.959 Suddenly your feed makes the entire world look 00:05:09.959 --> 00:05:12.040 furious. That's why a lot of people are complaining 00:05:12.040 --> 00:05:15.060 online because complaints get attention. And 00:05:15.060 --> 00:05:16.980 you watch one complaint, the internet's just 00:05:16.980 --> 00:05:19.120 going to give you more and more and more complaint 00:05:19.120 --> 00:05:21.300 videos. And all of a sudden you're going to be 00:05:21.300 --> 00:05:24.939 the one with complaints about the blameless stuff. 00:05:25.420 --> 00:05:28.319 Entertainment. Why would you be angry? at people 00:05:28.319 --> 00:05:30.819 that are just trying to entertain you. So if 00:05:30.819 --> 00:05:33.639 you pause on something outrageous, congratulations, 00:05:33.920 --> 00:05:36.360 the machine learned something. The algorithm 00:05:36.360 --> 00:05:39.339 doesn't necessarily know what's good for you. 00:05:39.399 --> 00:05:42.879 It knows what you won't stop looking at. And 00:05:42.879 --> 00:05:45.139 if you appreciate conversations like this that 00:05:45.139 --> 00:05:47.660 aren't just chasing whatever outrage happens 00:05:47.660 --> 00:05:50.300 to be trending today, hitting the like button 00:05:50.300 --> 00:05:53.060 helps a lot. But creators can get caught in this 00:05:53.060 --> 00:05:54.980 too. I've seen it over and over again. I almost 00:05:54.980 --> 00:05:58.199 got caught in it a few times over the years and 00:05:58.199 --> 00:06:00.740 it really bothers me. So that's when I had to 00:06:00.740 --> 00:06:04.540 actually say to myself, no, no algorithm. I will 00:06:04.540 --> 00:06:08.680 not take part in this scheme because creators, 00:06:08.939 --> 00:06:10.939 instead of asking, Oh, what do I want to make? 00:06:11.240 --> 00:06:14.920 We start asking, what will the algorithm reward? 00:06:15.129 --> 00:06:18.589 What title gets clicked? What thumbnail gets 00:06:18.589 --> 00:06:22.410 attention? What topic is trending? Obviously, 00:06:22.829 --> 00:06:25.089 creators want people to watch their stuff. I 00:06:25.089 --> 00:06:27.810 do too, of course. Or listen to my stuff, I guess, 00:06:28.009 --> 00:06:31.600 is what I want. But when an entire creative ecosystem 00:06:31.600 --> 00:06:34.860 starts bending itself around what a recommendation 00:06:34.860 --> 00:06:38.620 system prefers, eventually the algorithm isn't 00:06:38.620 --> 00:06:41.459 just deciding what people watch anymore, it starts 00:06:41.459 --> 00:06:44.839 influencing what's actually getting made. And 00:06:44.839 --> 00:06:49.100 that matters. That's what made me say, no more. 00:06:49.620 --> 00:06:52.360 Creativity should start with, hey, I have something 00:06:52.360 --> 00:06:56.300 to say, not the machine says people are angry 00:06:56.300 --> 00:06:59.519 about this today. And I'm not saying our algorithms 00:06:59.519 --> 00:07:02.819 are evil. Okay. I'm saying we should have a choice. 00:07:03.100 --> 00:07:06.319 If I want recommendations, great. Turn them on. 00:07:06.399 --> 00:07:09.319 If somebody loves a hyper personalized feed, 00:07:09.319 --> 00:07:13.310 trying to sell you stuff. fantastic. Enjoy yourself. 00:07:13.529 --> 00:07:16.589 But I want the option to say, no thanks. Don't 00:07:16.589 --> 00:07:19.569 predict me. Don't optimize me. Don't nudge me. 00:07:19.769 --> 00:07:22.589 Don't decide what I should see next. Show me 00:07:22.589 --> 00:07:25.189 the people I deliberately chose to follow, and 00:07:25.189 --> 00:07:27.889 they get the hell out of the way. And honestly, 00:07:28.209 --> 00:07:30.509 that's why direct support matters too. Channel 00:07:30.509 --> 00:07:34.069 memberships and Patreon help creators keep making 00:07:34.069 --> 00:07:36.610 what they actually want to make instead of constantly 00:07:36.610 --> 00:07:40.170 chasing what some recommendation system wants 00:07:40.170 --> 00:07:44.250 this week. So thank you. Maybe progress isn't 00:07:44.250 --> 00:07:46.930 always about building a smarter algorithm. You 00:07:46.930 --> 00:07:49.850 guys, maybe sometimes progress means giving people 00:07:49.850 --> 00:07:53.949 the ability to turn the algorithm off because 00:07:53.949 --> 00:07:56.509 privacy isn't about having something to hide. 00:07:56.970 --> 00:08:00.089 Sometimes privacy is simply the ability to exist 00:08:00.089 --> 00:08:03.389 without being continuously observed, interpreted, 00:08:03.850 --> 00:08:06.959 categorized, and converted into data. I don't 00:08:06.959 --> 00:08:11.860 need the internet to know me better. I know me. 00:08:11.959 --> 00:08:14.800 That's enough. I spent a lot of time in my life 00:08:14.800 --> 00:08:18.379 sitting there quietly thinking, trying to know 00:08:18.379 --> 00:08:21.319 myself better. So here's a question for you. 00:08:21.459 --> 00:08:25.519 If YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and 00:08:25.519 --> 00:08:28.579 X gave you one switch that turned off personalized 00:08:28.579 --> 00:08:31.480 recommendations and only showed you content from 00:08:31.480 --> 00:08:34.240 people you deliberately chose to follow, would 00:08:34.240 --> 00:08:37.080 you press it? I would, I'd press it so hard you 00:08:37.080 --> 00:08:39.679 guys, I'd press it immediately, and I might never 00:08:39.679 --> 00:08:42.080 turn it back on. But tell me what you think in 00:08:42.080 --> 00:08:44.899 the comments. If you enjoyed the episode, like 00:08:44.899 --> 00:08:47.299 it, subscribe if you haven't already, and consider 00:08:47.299 --> 00:08:50.480 joining the channel or supporting Egotastic Funtime 00:08:50.480 --> 00:08:53.460 The Reloaded Cut on Patreon. I'm over there, 00:08:53.600 --> 00:08:55.480 got stuff to talk about over there, and until 00:08:55.480 --> 00:08:59.240 next time, I hope all of your times, every damn 00:08:59.240 --> 00:09:02.899 one of those times, are Egotastic. fun times. 00:09:03.299 --> 00:09:04.200 Love you. Bye bye.