the algorithm is a grooming device

using the term in the morphed meaning of lowering someone's inhibition to something they previously found morally unacceptable as opposed to the exploitation of children, the algorithm is a grooming device. the perpetual reinforcement of likes and views from the aggregated base desires of an anonymous audience has the predictable effect of shifting the individual in isolation and society in sum towards content that's meaner, highly sexualized and violent. if it bleeds it leads, sex sells, and other similar idioms indicate the phenomenon is not new, but what is is the exponential and unmediated-by-gatekeepers nature of the grooming effect; combined with the permissive social consensus post-1960s and laissez-faire approach to big tech platform economics and it's hard to imagine it slowing down. for a small example of the impact on both individuals and in aggregate check out r/gymsnark's constant lamentation about the turn to softcore porn of specific female fitfluencers and that niche of content creators in general. for the top down effect as opposed to a bottom up emergence is the fact that most of social media is a concerted influence campaign, but that's another post.