Short-Answer Quiz #3
1. Determine what kind of social media site you are creating. Then answer the following questions, explaining your decisions. (Remember the key here is to create an ethical algorithm model).
The social media site I would like to create would be one geared towards safety and wellness. It would be a social media where videos could be posted and shared to express concerns, experiences, and tips to live a knowledgeable life. The social media site would include tips and tricks for life efforts that school didn’t teach you. In other words, it would be like Tik Tok, but without the jokes and memes. It would be like the informative blogs on Twitter, but video formats. And it would be like YouTube, but without the ads and shorter clips. On a spectrum of safety and knowledge, it would have a focus from how to change a tire to taking down an attacker.
2. What will you measure? (ex: likes, hashtags, how long someone stays on a page, etc) Be sure to explain all your decisions.
The social media site would measure things like how many views a video would get, how long someone stays on the video, how many likes, the comments, age of user, location, etc. Many of the factors that add traction to the video and would help allow for others to view. If more people commented, liked, and watched videos completely, then others would likely have the video recommended to them. All the factors add to the algorithm of what is important for others to watch and what isn’t as much. Age would help videos come up that are significant to people of a certain age group. And location would help others see the important services/ service announcements around their area.
3. How will you weigh these factors? (rank factors from most important to least important)
The most important factor would be the number of likes a video would get. It’s important because it means many people would find the video interesting and or informative. The second most important factor would be how many views a video would get. The third factor would be location of the video posted. Location is important for safety and wellness because if there is a disaster or human traffickers in the area per se, more people are likely to stay safe and informed. The fourth would be the age of the user. I put the age of the user as important because situations differ with age. For example there could be a video explaining to users explaining what credit is, why it’s important, and how to use a credit card properly and safely. That type of video would be more useful for younger adults rather than people that are already familiar with and already know how to use their credit. The fifth would be comments. There could be a lot or a little amount and the video could still be popular. The least important factor would be how long each individual views the videos and comments. People could stay on a video to read all the comments, try to practice a self defense move over and over again, and those would just skew the algorithm. So in this case, the length of time a video has the attention of a user is important, but not the main decipher of the algorithm.
4. What factors will not be measured? (what will not be measured in your algorithm and why)
Factors that will not be measured would be anything other than the age of the user. For example, race, ethnicity, gender, religious affiliation, time of app use, etc. will not be used. I don’t understand why race and ethnicity of an individual is so important for other algorithms. In the case of the social media site, there will be no red flagging or preventing others from viewing certain videos. Each video that is popular should be available for all and every person has an equal chance of viewing. Gender will not be measured because at the end of the day, we are all human and may have similar situations. If guys see videos about information of the menstrual cycle, then let it be. Let them be more informed about a situation of others besides themselves. It is up to an individual to decide what they want to fully watch or what they would like to scroll past. Gender will not be a factor because health, wellness, and safety can be universal regardless of any other factors.
5. How will the model learn or adapt to new information? (this can include changes in language, etc)
The model will learn to adapt to changes in language by translating them, or by keeping the videos in certain regions. If there is any hate or sensitive material, the model will sensor it as well as flag videos as sensitive. Again, the location of where the video is posted will remain in the region where it concerns the surrounding areas. When a video has enough traction to go past the boundaries of borders, then the videos will have captions, translations, and other people to comment on videos to explain to others.
6. What biases will be built into the model? How will this change the algorithm’s outcome?
The biases that will be built into the model is anything and everything against hate. Social media is supposed to include informational videos and nothing about slurs or hate against any type of people or groups. If there is any of such the user will be warned, prohibited from commenting and from making videos, banned for a short period of time, then banned from the social media site period. There is only one warning before an individual is not allowed to discuss any further and only allowed to be a spectator. This will change the algorithms outcome because those individuals, their comments, and likes will not change the algorithm. They will simply be a ghost on the social media site with no impact.
7. How will the model live out the (un)ethical practices we have discussed?
I never understood how people were allowed hate speech on social media and allowed to continue. With that said, there will be none of that on the social media site. The algorithm will not allow it. Consider it a kindergarten class posting videos online where everyone is your friend, everyone is equal, and “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say it at all.” The media site is supposed to be a guide to living and knowledgeable and safe life, there should be no form of hate, misconduct, or red flagging. All types of people are allowed to go on the site and post their tips and tricks without backlash or being prevented from seeing videos. The model will be the way social media should be.















