{"id":15035,"date":"2022-02-19T10:04:07","date_gmt":"2022-02-19T10:04:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/02\/19\/who-chooses-seths-blog\/"},"modified":"2022-02-19T10:04:07","modified_gmt":"2022-02-19T10:04:07","slug":"who-chooses-seths-blog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/02\/19\/who-chooses-seths-blog\/","title":{"rendered":"Who chooses? | Seth’s Blog"},"content":{"rendered":"

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When Google or Facebook or Spotify decide what you\u2019ll see next, they\u2019re making a choice.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s very different from an open platform like \u201cpodcasting\u201d or \u201cblogging\u201d (in quotes with no capital letters, because no one is in charge.)<\/p>\n

Being in charge implies that choices are being made. And people who are in charge\u2013even if it\u2019s just one person in charge of their own voice\u2013are choosing.<\/p>\n

Choosing is a form of selection, of amplification and of curation. Not official government censorship, but something more nuanced than that, the responsibility that comes from choice.<\/p>\n

In many parts of our culture, particularly pockets of tech, it\u2019s fashionable to talk about \u2018free speech\u2019 and \u2018open platforms\u2019 as if they\u2019re unalloyed virtues. But the moment Apple puts a podcast on its home page, Google decides to put this blog in your promo folder, or Spotify decides to promote one song or podcast over another, the platform is no longer truly open. Often, individuals and organizations use terms like this when they\u2019re defending something that isn\u2019t helpful to the people who encountered it. <\/p>\n

When money enters the picture, it\u2019s even more complicated. There\u2019s a difference between a truly open platform and an algorithm staffed by people who put one sort of website on their spam list and another highly ranked, simply because they make more of a profit on the second one. Or when YouTube or Spotify pay people a thousand (or two hundred million) dollars to host their content\u2026<\/p>\n

Ideas shared create value. Good ideas are the engine of our future. We\u2019ve seen that when creators of ideas take responsibility for their work, it\u2019s more likely that we all benefit.<\/p>\n

Wide-open platforms almost always lead to chaos, negative side effects and anonymous spam. I\u2019m in favor of choice, especially when it\u2019s made by organizations and individuals willing to be held responsible for the choices they make.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n