5. The Vortex

5. The Vortex

One of the strange things about our new media universe, is how innocuous decisions taken in Silicon Valley - turning a dial, or adding a few lines of code to increase engagement - can change your life.

In 2016, Instagram introduced a new way of looking at content: the non-chronological feed.

Now, instead of seeing what your friends were posting in the order they were posting it, an algorithm brought you stuff based on search history, likes, and interactions.

That’s how tech engineers saw things back then - not just at Instagram, but at Pinterest, and other platforms too - if you engage with something, that must mean you want more of it.

Ian Russell believes that this algorithmic change may have altered the course of his 14 year old daughter Molly's life.

Presenter: Jamie Bartlett Producer: Caitlin Smith Sound Design: Eloise Whitmore Composer: Jeremy Warmsley Story Consultant: Kirsty Williams Execuitve Producer: Peter McManus Commissioner: Dan Clarke

A BBC Scotland Production for Radio 4.

Archive: 'Instagram implements big changes to users' feed, ditches chronologixal content' DT Daily; March 16th 2016. US Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Nov 7th 2023

If you are suffering distress or despair and need support, including urgent support, a list of organisations that can help is available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.

New episodes released on Mondays. If you’re in the UK, listen to the latest episodes of The Gatekeepers, first on BBC Sounds: bbc.in/3Ui661u

Episoder(17)

The crypto operation hijacking the BBC (from Top Comment)

The crypto operation hijacking the BBC (from Top Comment)

Recommended listening from Top Comment, the BBC podcast that investigates what's blowing up online.In this clip from the latest episode Marianna Spring and Matt Shea look at the highly convincing fake...

27 Apr 9min

6. F For Fake

6. F For Fake

Jamie and his AI companion Jimmy Botlett become increasingly difficult to tell apart as they bring you the final chapter of this story - featuring Geoffrey Hinton, the godfather of AI, who now wishes ...

15 Apr 28min

5. Doctor’s Orders

5. Doctor’s Orders

Jamie sits down with Dr Aseem Malhotra, the cardiologist who reaches millions through alternative media with his claims about Covid vaccines - and who is, he says, nervous about talking to the BBC. Ja...

8 Apr 28min

4. The Lance Armstrong Defence

4. The Lance Armstrong Defence

In the early 2000s, a young man in New Jersey was writing thousands of fake university essays for paying students. Around the same time, financial analysts in New York were rating toxic debt as safe. ...

1 Apr 29min

3. My Truth, Your Truth, and Anything But the Truth

3. My Truth, Your Truth, and Anything But the Truth

In 1987, the same year Hulk Hogan body-slammed Andre the Giant, something else happened that would change America's relationship with the truth forever - a Washington regulator abolished the law that ...

25 Mar 29min

2. Kayfabe Country

2. Kayfabe Country

In episode two, Jamie ventures into the strange world of 1980s WWF wrestling - where performers and fans share an unspoken agreement to treat the whole spectacle as real. A shared illusion where every...

18 Mar 28min

1. Fake it. Make it. Podcast it.

1. Fake it. Make it. Podcast it.

Jamie Bartlett is not Steven Bartlett. People mix them up more than you might think - but there is an important difference: Steven Bartlett is one of the most successful podcasters on the planet, and ...

11 Mar 28min

Trailer

Trailer

Have you noticed that more and more of the world feels, well, fake?Online there's a daily avalanche of dubious advice and information - about health, money, success, happiness - much of it delivered w...

4 Mar 2min

Populært innen Samfunn

rss-spartsklubben
giver-og-gjengen-vg
aftenpodden
aftenpodden-usa
alt-fortalt
konspirasjonspodden
popradet
intervjuet
rss-nesten-hele-uka-med-lepperod
rss-henlagt-andy-larsgaard
lydartikler-fra-aftenposten
wolfgang-wee-uncut
grenselos
rss-espen-lee-usensurert
min-barneoppdragelse
synnve-og-vanessa
rss-dannet-uten-piano
rss-dette-ma-aldri-skje-igjen
frokostshowet-pa-p5
fladseth