Overheard my coworker say her Instagram feed 'knows her better than her therapist'

She was dead serious, like that's a good thing. How is letting an ad engine optimize your emotions supposed to help with actual mental health?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_lisa1mo agoMost Upvoted

Letting an ad engine optimize your emotions" oh man that is exactly it. I once told my friend that my YouTube recommendations understood my anxiety better than my actual therapist and we both laughed but I was half serious. Then I realized the algorithm just figured out what makes me scroll and click, not what actually helps me. It's basically a really smart vending machine for your feelings. I learned the hard way that getting served content that validates your worst moods is not the same as working through them.

sean_cooper581mo agoMost Upvoted

Read something the other day about how algorithms are basically just really good at pattern recognition, not empathy. So when it feeds you sad songs or anxious videos, it's not understanding you, it's just figured out that sad = more clicks. That really stuck with me because it explains why I feel worse after a deep scroll session instead of better.

mia7001mo ago

The "smart vending machine for your feelings" bit hit me hard because it's so true. I caught myself doing the same thing with Spotify playlists, like the algorithm knew I was sad before I even admitted it to myself. But looking back, those recommendations just kept me in a loop where I'd listen to the same sad songs and feel worse. It took me ages to realize the algorithm was feeding my mood, not fixing it.