Practical knowledge of algorithms: The case of BreadTube

Cotter, Kelley

doi:10.1177/14614448221081802

Cited by 24 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…Here, viral creators are more market-oriented. At the other end, in the autonomous pole, influencers appeal at least to some extent to an audience of insiders, like fellow fashion consumers or leftist YouTubers or whichever niche community that matters to them (e.g., Cotter, 2022; Duffy, 2017). Influencers are hence community-oriented.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The social media economy, while seemingly all about selling content and monetizing attention, may be better thought of as a "hybrid setting," with degrees of autonomy and heteronomy that give rise to patterned ways of making content (Krause 2017). There are clearly creators who make "content for content's sake," pursuing their passions or supporting their communities, even at the expense of their own "visibility wealth," such as activists (e.g., Cotter, 2022). For these creators, high engagement metrics may be met with suspicion, perhaps even disdain.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Bringing Bourdieu to a Content Farm: Social Media Production Fields and the Cultural Economy of Attention

Mears

2023

Social Media + Society

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Attention is a valuable and scarce resource in the online “attention economy.” But not all attention is equally valuable. This article advances a relational theory of the value of attention by situating social media content production as a field. I draw from an ethnography of a “content farm” and interviews with 60 creators who make highly-paid but low-status entertainment videos designed to go viral on Facebook, as well as on SnapChat, TikTok, and YouTube. I propose an inverse relationship between status and reach: higher reach may pose risks to a creator’s status and reputation. Furthermore, in pursuit of the highest possible reach, viral creators construct situational authenticity, rather than personal authenticity, and they relate to their audiences antagonistically, in contrast to existing studies of influencers. How creators seek attention, from whom, and with what conversion strategies, I argue, depends upon their location in a cultural field because online audiences exist in a hierarchy of perceived social worth.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bringing Bourdieu to a Content Farm: Social Media Production Fields and the Cultural Economy of Attention

Mears

2023

Social Media + Society

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“…They conclude by asking for more research on how algorithm awareness “engenders certain actions and behaviors” (p. 24). Based on online discourse materials and interviews with members of a community of YouTubers, Cotter (2022) developed the concept of “practical knowledge” to describe people's ability to “to accomplish X, Y, or Z within algorithmically mediated spaces (practice) as guided by the discursive features of one's social world (discourse)” (p. 7).…”

Section: Research On Algorithm Skillsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The importance of algorithm skills for informed Internet use

Gruber

Hargittai

2023

Big Data & Society

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Using the Internet means encountering algorithmic processes that influence what information a user sees or hears. Existing research has shown that people's algorithm skills vary considerably, that they develop individual theories to explain these processes, and that their online behavior can reflect these understandings. Yet, there is little research on how algorithm skills enable people to use algorithms to their own benefit and to avoid harms they may elicit. To fill this gap in the literature, we explore the extent to which people understand how the online systems and services they use may be influenced by personal data that algorithms know about them, and whether users change their behavior based on this understanding. Analyzing 83 in-depth interviews from five countries about people's experiences with researching and searching for products and services online, we show how being aware of personal data collection helps people understand algorithmic processes. However, this does not necessarily enable users to influence algorithmic output, because currently, options that help users control the level of customization they encounter online are limited. Besides the empirical contributions, we discuss research design implications based on the diversity of the sample and our findings for studying algorithm skills.

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“…Other definitions emphasize behavioral strategies to influence algorithmic decision-making (Cotter, 2022; DeVito, 2021; Shin et al , 2022a; Swart, 2021). Folk theories (intuitive, informal theories that explain how algorithms work) guide reactions to and behavior toward algorithmic systems in the absence of absolute ground truth for how algorithms function (DeVito et al , 2017).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Toward a new framework for teaching algorithmic literacy

Archambault

2023

ILS

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Purpose Research shows that postsecondary students are largely unaware of the impact of algorithms on their everyday lives. Also, most noncomputer science students are not being taught about algorithms as part of the regular curriculum. This exploratory, qualitative study aims to explore subject-matter experts’ insights and perceptions of the knowledge components, coping behaviors and pedagogical considerations to aid faculty in teaching algorithmic literacy to postsecondary students. Design/methodology/approach Eleven semistructured interviews and one focus group were conducted with scholars and teachers of critical algorithm studies and related fields. A content analysis was manually performed on the transcripts using a mixture of deductive and inductive coding. Data analysis was aided by the coding software program Dedoose (2021) to determine frequency totals for occurrences of a code across all participants along with how many times specific participants mentioned a code. Then, findings were organized around the three themes of knowledge components, coping behaviors and pedagogy. Findings The findings suggested a set of 10 knowledge components that would contribute to students’ algorithmic literacy along with seven behaviors that students could use to help them better cope with algorithmic systems. A set of five teaching strategies also surfaced to help improve students’ algorithmic literacy. Originality/value This study contributes to improved pedagogy surrounding algorithmic literacy and validates existing multi-faceted conceptualizations and measurements of algorithmic literacy.

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Practical knowledge of algorithms: The case of BreadTube

Cited by 24 publications

References 51 publications

Bringing Bourdieu to a Content Farm: Social Media Production Fields and the Cultural Economy of Attention

Bringing Bourdieu to a Content Farm: Social Media Production Fields and the Cultural Economy of Attention

The importance of algorithm skills for informed Internet use

Toward a new framework for teaching algorithmic literacy

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