The algorithms are what makes these services. Most interactions aren’t searching and selecting something specific or intentional, they’re just opening a fire hose and expecting the algorithm to pick content they find entertaining for them. It requires the algorithm to have a lot of information, both about the specific user, and about similar users.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I think they could add a tag system, where the user enters their interests as a tag and then Loops shows all the content that shares the same tag.

Yes, it's more effort than TikTok, which automatically guesses what your interests are, but I think it's still a good, privacy friendly alternative.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago

If something like that were to work, a lot of effort would need to be put into minimizing the UI friction. I could see something like: uploaders add topic tags to their videos, and an AI runs in the background to generate and apply new tags based on the content (most people would not understand how to properly tag content). An AI would also be used to create a graph of related tags, where similar or closely related tags are nodes joined by an edge. Then, on first login the user is prompted to pick some tags to start with. Over time, the client uses the adjacent tag graph to fine-tune users’ tags, on device. The idea here is that we could get a decent algorithm that can recommend new stuff based on what the user watches, but keep that data processing of user-specific content local. Then, the client would also have an option the user could enable that would contribute their client’s tag information back to the global tag graph, improving the global tag graph for everybody. This data could also be combined with other users data at the instance level to somewhat anonymize the data, assuming it is a large multi-user instance. If you were to host a single user instance, you’d probably not want to contribute to the global tag graph unless you’re ok with your tag preferences being public.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago (2 children)

Would there be some way to have the algorithms localized to the user (or instance)? If data needs to be compared between users, would there be some way to anonymize the data first?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago

It’s a bit tricky but I think a privacy preserving algorithm is possible. Simply put, the more data available, the better an algorithm can be.

[–] BroBot9000 2 points 5 months ago (2 children)

Or just manage your interests and cultivate your own catalog of creators to follow.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I think the easy discoverability on these platforms is part of what makes them so popular. Using TikTok or similar, a user typically wants to be shown new things, it maintains a sense of novelty that keeps users constantly engaged. Having to do this manually would be a huge negative.

[–] BroBot9000 4 points 5 months ago

It’s what’s makes them addictive. Mindless doom scrolling an algorithm.

Give users control to block and follow whatever without being pushed for “engagement”

That’s for selling ads

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago

I pretty much do exactly that when it comes to YouTube, and I almost never browse TikTok/Shorts/Reels-type content. Not everyone is like me though, and options for those who do enjoy short-form video would be good.