Recommender Systems Need the Tobacco Treatment
11 hours ago
- #digital regulation
- #recommender systems
- #social media addiction
- Social media platforms like Instagram and YouTube have been legally recognized as addictive and deliberately engineered to be so.
- Recommender systems are a key tool used by social media to increase engagement by showing personalized content, shifting platforms' focus from connecting people to entertaining them.
- Turning off YouTube watch history can significantly reduce addictive usage by eliminating algorithm-driven recommendations, as shown by a personal example.
- The EU's Digital Services Act mandates that users can opt out of personalized feeds, but options are often buried; recommendations should be turned off by default with clear warnings.
- Practical steps to limit recommendations on major platforms (YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Twitter) are provided, though many require manual adjustments each session.
- Default settings matter in policy and can reduce addiction by placing the burden of activation on those seeking addictive features, similar to regulations on cigarettes.