How we experience the web generally, and social media more specifically, is largely mediated through algorithms. Algorithms are computer programs that make thousands of decisions for us every day, but we don’t often critically examine what is happening under the hood of the web to understand what we see and why. In this module, learn more about how algorithms work and what you can do about it.
Goals:
- Begin to understand algorithmic underpinnings of the web
- Apply that understanding for your own digital identity and literacy
Suggested Readings:
- Welcome to the Black Box
- Digital Redlining
- Big Data Algorithms Can Discriminate, and it’s Not Clear What to do About it
- Exclusive: How Google’s Algorithm Rules the Web
- Inadvertent Algorithmic Cruelty
- Identity, Power, and Education’s Algorithms
- Algorithmic Fairness
- Investigating Algorithmic Injustice
- Facebook Newsfeed Algorithm History
- When Algorithms Discriminate
- A Step-By-Step Guide To Rank #1 On LinkedIn Search
Suggested Tasks:
- I Liked Everything on Facebook
- I Quit Liking Anything on Facebook
- Breaking the Black Box
- Can you get a top ranking on Linkedin?
- What Ads Do I See (and When and Why)?
