Ummm, all computer systems have an algorithm …
this post was submitted on 12 Mar 2025
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Showerthoughts
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A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. The most popular seem to be lighthearted clever little truths, hidden in daily life.
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- When you’re a kid, you don’t realize you’re also watching your mom and dad grow up.
- More dreams have been destroyed by alarm clocks than anything else
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Everything is an algorithm. Even just drawing rounded corners on a button is an algorithm.
If it's digital, there's an algorithm somewhere.
Fuck.
An algorithm basically means "a procedure to follow to do or decide something"
That's all it means.
Contrast a heuristic, which is more of a vibes-based way to make a decision.
You may be misunderstanding what an algorithm is, because I don't see how your post relates to algorithms.
Am algorithm is just a defined series of steps to do something. Doing long division would be an algorithm.
Social media sites need to rank the posts that it shows to users, and it uses algorithms for that. People talk about social media algorothms because social media sites often select an algorithm that is specifically designed to prioritize the posts that keep users engaged. Lemmy has an algorithm. If you're sorting by Hot or Scaled, that's an algorithm. The main difference is that this algorithm is available for people to see and has been selected to actually do what it says it does
yes, in designed algorithms (although it's hard to argue that "hot" sorting is an "algorithm" unless we're being pedantic). but in a colloquial sense, from an end user's perspective, the thing they see is "the algorithm". which for lemmy is about as natural as I described, unless I'm missing something (like the rate of photons hitting under sea cables), since there isn't a suggestion engine for the "all" feed
in a colloquial sense, from an end user's perspective, the thing they see is "the algorithm".
Yes, usually the default or most common method of aggregating posts is what people talk about when saying “the algorithm”
However, any method of sorting posts is by definition an algorithm. “top” is an algorithm, “new” is an algorithm, if you can compare two posts and have a method to choose which one to display first, that right there is an algorithm.
I’d actually argue that the “hot” algorithm is one of the more opaque ones. It sorts posts based on a composition of different metrics, and It’s unclear exactly what these metrics are and how they are combined.
yeah totally, but those are basic algorithms and most lay people don't even realize them to be. also I doubt many developers would show their boss "hey I built this awesome algorithm, it sorts by up votes" or "by time created" and continue having their job unless they built a recommendation engine per user or demographic, which is the generic corporate standard
which is why I like Lemmy/fediverse. it lets things be much more "organic" for lack of a much better word
What you've described is not an algorithm.
Bubble sort
Although on most other sites the algorithm tries to figure out what you want to see where as on Lemmy it's serving you outrage and US politics wether you want it or not.
Commercial website feed shaping algorithm:
- Promoter feeds you what you want (to addict you), not what you need (to improve your life), manipulating you to make money for advertisers
- Filter omits what is banned or shadowbanned by the platform owner, manipulating you politically
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They decide what you think about and don't know.
Lemmy feed shaper:
- Fuzzy promoter: You choose one from a handful of simple open source ranking algorithms (which can be fooled by bot activity)
https://join-lemmy.org/docs/users/03-votes-and-ranking.html - Strict promoter: You follow what you want (tediously one by one - there are no associations between similars)
- Filter: You block what you avoid (instances, communities, users), but topics leak between communities (but some apps support keyword muting, which doesn't work on pictures of text)
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Fediverse feed shaper lacks a defined topic hierarchy for accurate content tagging (of instances, communities, posts, replies, users) by users, preferably with web of trust between taggers.
Quora had a precise topic taxonomy until 2023 or so - my feed was excellent (except for some spam, because no web of trust). Then the remaining co-founder enshittified it, filling my feed with viral click-hits.
imo the thing that makes "the algorithm" of most sites bad is just that it is completely invisible to you and something you have no choice about