I think the way that platforms are not well designed for me is the same as the way that it is not well designed for everyone: it is driven by profit. These platforms are hosted by companies, and those companies are trying to make money above all else. This is something Safiya Noble talks about in her lecture Challenging the Algorithms of Oppression. She mentions that auto suggestions might be linked to advertisers, and as she puts it, “those are really the clients for search engines” (Noble, 4:30). And this reminds me of a saying I’ve heard that is ‘If the product is free, then you are the product’. These platforms profit off our attentions, and humans are very guilty of giving attention to more negative, noticeable things. This leads to sensationalist headlines that play into our biases and prejudices.

I think social media sites can be a great platform for spreading information and organizing. During the protests last summer, when I was back home in the Portland area, I saw a lot of posts and stories on social media and on the news about the larger, more violent protests going on downtown. But what I did not see on the news, and only saw via various posts on social platforms, was groups organizing smaller protests in their neighborhoods and communities. Especially in the midst of a pandemic, I don’t believe this would have been possible without social media. I think these platforms, like Instagram and Reddit in particular, allowed for the fast spread of information and stories, such as that of Manuel Ellis, who was killed by Tacoma police the year prior, but in the wave of new interest was able to have his story heard again on social platforms.

Noble, S. U. (2016, June 15). Challenging the Algorithms of Oppression