this post was submitted on 29 Jul 2023
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Meta conducted an experiment where thousands of users were shown chronological feeds on Facebook and Instagram for three months. Users of the chronological feeds engaged less with the platforms and were more likely to use competitors like YouTube and TikTok. This suggests that users prefer algorithmically ranked feeds that show them more relevant content, even though some argue chronological feeds provide more transparency. While the experiment found that chronological feeds exposed users to more political and untrustworthy content, it did not significantly impact their political views or behaviors. The researchers note that a permanent switch to chronological feeds could produce different results, but this study provides only a glimpse into the issue.


I think this is bullshit. I exclusively scroll Lemmy in new mode. I scroll I see a post I already have seen. Then I leave. That doesn't mean I hate it, I'm just done!

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 11 months ago
[–] [email protected] 8 points 11 months ago

I also feel like a lot of the value of chronological is lost if I think it's algorithmic recommendations. If I don't know I'm browsing the latest? I'll likely just think the algorithm is serving up some garbage. Especially somewhere like Facebook, where people haven't really been curating their feed for years, just... following whoever to be polite and letting the algorithm take care of it.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 11 months ago (1 children)

The actual problem is that they think they should just force one or the other on us. Give us a choice to sort our feed and we'll figure out what we like best.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 11 months ago (1 children)

But then people can choose the option that does not have them scrolling for hours. Which means less time and less views on the platform. Why would they give you that option?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago

Goes to show I am getting tired. Why didn't I think of that. Ofcourse meta wants to keep you on their platform as long as possible. Thanks for pointing that out to me.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Meta analysis: researchers interpret results incorrectly. Here's a bunch of results discussing just that (in fact meta analyses are usually carried out to demonstrate this fact):

https://www.google.com/search?q=meta+analysis+researchers+interpret+results+incorrectly

[–] [email protected] 7 points 11 months ago

I forgot: are Lemmy's active and hot sorts chronological? They're pretty decent, but I do find stale content does get stuck on one that isn't there on the other.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 11 months ago

I think the conclusion that people hate chronological feeds is not a very strong conclusion. People also hate some algorithmic feeds, especially when it’s full of crap and there is no chronology anymore. An ideal situation would be if you could choose both and also if you could influence the algorithm.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago (2 children)

I love how it's now "okey" for a private company to conduct experiments/studies on people. What the actual fuck!

[–] [email protected] 6 points 11 months ago

AB testing has been around for a while

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago

I think there's a time and a place for algorithmic feeds. When it comes to Facebook i personally think it makes sense to have a way of filtering the important things first, based on who you interact with. It's a social network in the definitive sense; we care about some people more than others depending on where in the network they are. However we've seen how things go when Facebook use it with pages/news stories (which is really concerning).

For things like Twitter, I want chronological. It's a real time platform based on sharing information across a larger audience. Its use in breaking news makes timing important. It's largely gone to shit now because Musk, but in its heyday anyway.

Ideally there should always be a choice, or at least some transparency around how the algorithms work. That way everyone can choose what works for them based on how they use the platform.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago

Cool! Even they did prove anything there, I would prefer no longer to be considered them as "People" if that lets me keep using my perfectly ordered, labeled and sequentially ordered RSS. My brain just has no time and interest for an infinite stream of haphazardly cooked up stuff.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago

I agree, I don't think it's accurate to say engagement was less. If I want to see what is new with my friends and I can quickly see everything in just a few swipes instead of swiping w For hours to see if I can see something new it will cause me to spend less time on the platform, but I'll enjoy it more because I can spend more time doing things with them in person.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago

More for them and less for me then. I enjoy my Subscribed + New feed and don't bother with much else.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago

Completely believable.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago

I aint on facebook or instagram, by chronological do they mean followed accounts only? Cus if chronological for followed accounts is showing more political, less trustworthy content, that's just what those people are interested in apparently.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago

I do "hot day" for a page or 2... then i revert to new. This way i don't miss the "big" items.

I definitely prefer the new thread view overall.

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