Feedback Loop

In the sphere of social media, a feedback loop is the interminable cycle of interaction, reaction, and interaction adjustment among a platform's algorithms and its users. It drives content visibility, engagement, and user experience. It starts when users engage with content and deliver interaction data (such as likes and shares) to the platform's algorithm.

The algorithm observes the interaction data and, as if handed a report card, assesses it to decide which content gets seen by whom. In a manner of speaking, the self-interested entity that is the algorithm has a mandate to deliver (1) good user experiences, which is to say: (2) the right content that piques user interest; also (3) content that satisfies individual users and thousands of content creators in order to maintain order (4) inside the platform's overall dynamic. The platform does not want this overall ordering to be jarring, nor does it want word to get around that the platform is a 'fake content factory.

' It does not want to be a bad trip.