DIRECTIONS: Write A, G or P beside each one. Then say what gave it away.
Everything on a screen was put there, for one of three reasons:
A — you asked You searched for it, or you followed a link on purpose.G — something guessed A machine picked it from what you and people like you
watched.P — somebody paid A company paid to show it to you. It has to say so, as quietly
as it is allowed to.
1.
How to draw a dragon — step by step
You typed "how to draw a dragon" into the search box.
2.
DRAGON PENCIL SET — 40% off today
Small gray word above the picture: Sponsored
3.
How to draw a wolf
Underneath: "People who watched dragons also watched this."
4.
10 ART SUPPLIES YOU NEED — my honest list
In the description, in small type: Paid partnership
5.
My wolf puppy ate the sofa
Underneath: "Recommended for you."
6.
Dragon drawing FAIL compilation
Started playing on its own when the first video ended.
7.
How to draw a dragon — the easy way
Second result under your search.
What Gave Them Away
Life Skills · Online · Page 2 of 7
DIRECTIONS: Look back at your seven boxes.
How many were P? Were there more or fewer than you expected?
For each P, write the words on the screen that gave it away. How big was that writing compared with the rest?
One of the G items is not about drawing at all any more. Which, and how do you think the machine got there from a dragon?
What "Guessed" Actually Means
Life Skills · Online · Page 3 of 7
DIRECTIONS: Read the box, then answer.
The machine that picks the next video is not asking "is this good?" It has
never seen the video.
It finds people who watched what you watched, and shows you what THEY watched next.
It aims at what keeps you watching. Not the truest thing, not the most useful, not what
you would have picked from ten laid out on a table.
Usually those are the same. Where they come apart is where you end up an hour later wondering
what happened.
Say the difference between a video that is good and a video that keeps people watching. Give an example of something that is one and not the other.
Good, or Keeps You Watching
Life Skills · Online · Page 4 of 7
DIRECTIONS: Use the box on page 3.
Nobody at the company chose your next video, and nobody watched it first. Does that make it better or worse? Say why.
Nobody Is Thinking About You
Life Skills · Online · Page 5 of 7
DIRECTIONS: Take your time over the second.
You watch one video about a thing you were only slightly interested in. What happens to what you are shown after that? Say whether that seems fair.
Somebody says "the app is trying to trick me". Using page 3, say what is wrong with that sentence — and what would be a more accurate way to put it.
Nothing Had To Play Next
Life Skills · Online · Page 6 of 7
DIRECTIONS: Somebody designed each of these. Fill in both columns.
The thing
What it would be like without it
Who does it help?
Autoplay the next video starts on its own
No bottom of the page it keeps loading more as you scroll
A red dot on the icon something is waiting for you
"Someone is typing…" so you wait rather than putting it down
None of these had to exist. A book ends. Each row was tested to see which version
kept people there longer.
That is not somebody out to get you. Nobody is thinking about you at all. A machine is doing
what it was built to do, and knowing that is enough.
And What You Can Do About It
Life Skills · Online · Page 7 of 7
Pick the row you think works best on you. Write down one thing you could change so it stops working.
A book has a last page and a feed does not. Say what that difference does to you, not to the book.
Write down the one question to ask about anything on a screen, in your own words. It is the question this whole sheet has been asking.