As part of our project, we are constructing a digital location to archive and share user experiences with algorithms (currently hosted here). We encourage anyone who uses social media to screenshot and share with us the content that is algorithmically suggested to them. You can also write a letter to your algorithm and send us a screenshot of it!
The purpose of this part of the project is to show that, while users may engage with the same social media platform, the algorithms embedded within these platforms lead different users to have dramatically different online experiences. These personalised algorithmic experiences are shaping users understandings of the world and can have offline, embodied effects.
Participants contributing to the database have described it as fun and liberatory - a chance to reflect and share part of their digital reality with others and see their experiences and suggestions chronicled as part of a living archive. This database itself functions as a will be a valuable source of data for anyone seeking to learn about young adult's everyday experiences online.