– THE COLLECTION –
Aftermath, Algorithms & Apology
|
|
Writers often talk of a block. Not a bout of writers' block, but a something that gets in their heads and starts a bout of writers block. These past few years have taught me that my block is futility. If I feel like no one is listening, that there is no potential to the words I write, then I can hardly sit down at my desk. The words won't come.
Constructive debate, much less persuasion, doesn't happen without doubt. Someone who is set in their position simply isn't open to hearing another side. For so many reasons, that aptly describes our political reality today. The majority of folks are entrenched in their corners and that is kryptonite to an ideas person like me.
The commonly accepted scapegoat for this divisive reality is social media. I tend to agree with that fact, but not for the reasons usually given, that is, people like to hear their own positions amplified back to them and therefore seek and divide along sources that confirm their priors. True enough, but I take issue with "seek." There are many people who to challenge their assumptions. They don't seek the bias confirming stuff, but social media force feeds it to them anyway.
It wasn't always so. Early adopters of Facebook may recall that our news feeds used to have an equalizer. (See the banner shot above.) Each user got to set how much of our feed was photos, videos, or news shares. We could turn down the volume on a MLM friend or one that only posted marathon achievement pics. We could turn up our college buddy who posted a variety of family pics and funny thoughts from overseas. We also could follow accounts, which would always appear in our news feed. That's what following was, a statement that "I want to see this account's posts."
I hardly remember how those settings used to work because it's been years since Facebook, or Twitter, or Medium, and the rest allowed us to set our own algorithm. I do remember that when our chosen mix appeared in our news feed in reverse order, we could scroll though and know when we reached old stuff we had already seen, which was great because you could "finish" scrolling.
But the Facebooks and Twitters didn't want us to finish. And they wanted to choose for us. Enter algorithms set, not by the user, but by the app. Those algorithms are the active agent killing our discourse. Two illustrations. I am interested in the British royal family. The reasons are predictable, so I won't list them. I try not to click on articles about them, however, because they are usually fluffy, gossip and I have other things to read. Still, when a story or photo appears in my Apple News feed, I often linger over the picture and take in the sub-headline even though I resist clicking. But those pauses and the occasional click through have my feed awash in the British royals. What might this look like in a political context? Might a person want to read more broadly only to have the algorithm push the reassuring posts the app catches them hovering over in the moment before moving on?
My observation isn't original. It's a major point of that show The Social Network. But I do think that when we are analyzing our current polarization, we don't appreciate how much work the algorithm does. It's not that people don't seek other perspectives, it's that they have to work to find them. Which brings up the second illustration.
I used to write on Medium. One of the reasons I stopped was my no-one-is-listening block. The contemporary, and hopefully temporary, fingers-in-ears poses brought on by the politics of personality made writing the way I wanted to write feel futile. With Donald Trump leaving office, I felt a slight easing on this, so I published again. Now, back in my active publishing days, I'd billed myself and the Iron Ladies magazine as a right resource for left-of-center folks. Reads for the concurious as Melissa, one of my cohorts, dubbed it. For my efforts, I'd gained maybe 7000+ followers, people who sought crossover sources. I also could get Medium's top performer badge for most categories I published under. Yet, when I published an article after a long break, Medium put it in 20 feeds. That's it. For those who want to read broadly, choosing to do so isn't enough. They have to check in periodically to see if the accounts who don't easily fit a quick-click, confirmation of priors formula are posting.
It's a slog. Ditto for reading or listening locally. The apps will spoon feed you DC drama but good luck finding out about your hometown's budget problems.
Why is Substack booming? Because the don't-fit writers and readers have to get out from under all the current publishing apparatus to find each other. Why is Discord growing? Same. (I'm even thinking of making a Discord server for subscribers to this email. Do reply if you are interested in the idea.)
Anyway, I have many such readers here, which I forget too often because they are mostly quiet, thoughtful readers. To them, I apologize for not sending a newsletter since the election. My own disgust and dismay at the election aftermath did not help. Still, there have been pieces worth sharing. I will continue to do so with a small adjustment for me and for readers.
During the final weeks of the 2020 cycle, I found it easier to gather collections around a topic or event, say the nomination or the election, rather than a catch-all gathering once a month. I thought it'd be a temporary thing, but it helped me, and I think, became more useful to readers.
So, I will now send the Collection newsletter occasionally, as events warrant. And I will look into that Discord server.
Until later then, a collection for the aftermath of the 2020 Election.
|
|
My Family Has School Choice. So Should Yours.
by Katherine Mangu-Ward
One of the possible silver linings to come out of the pandemic: school reform.
"Equity" Is Only a Word: Largest Racial Achievement Gaps Are in America's Most Progressive Cities
by Erika Sanzi
Same goes for income inequality. This isn't new information but it is getting more intense.
Feel Good Now — Pay Later
by Allison Schrager
About President Biden's economic plans
A Conservative Foreign Policy For the Future
by Danielle Pletka
"National Security is not a paint job."
Words of Division
by Heather MacDonald
For me it was the stack of executive orders. Another round of government by dueling pens while Congress looks on and shirks responsibility does not say healing to me. And neither did any of the rhetoric mentioned in the piece.
Fear of a White Monolith. On the radical notion that white women are people
by Kat Rosenfield
As another white woman who did not vote for Donald Trump but gets why many did, I thank Kat for this insightful take.
Private Philanthropy: The Indispensable Force in the Pandemic
by Patrice Onwuka
Another silver lining seen in the pandemic, American philanthropy lives on.
Observations of New Citizen
by Irena Dragaš Jansen
More thoughts on American philanthropy, plus other things, like social division.
ObamaCare and the saddest kind of dissent
by Elizabeth Slattery and Anastasia Boden
The Contested Meaning of Women's Equality
by Erica Bachiochi
A good long read for anyone interested in feminism over history.
Is the Old Dichotomy of 'Working Mom' Versus 'Stay at Home Mom' Obsolete?
by Serena Sigillito
Verily fell off my radar a while ago, probably when they stopped their print version. They are still publishing online though.
The Problem with Kinship Care
by Naomi Schaefer Riley
If You Want Peace, Study War
by Margaret MacMillan
It's harder to do, at least at university, as she explains.
In Rabbi Jonathan Sacks' Final Book, Wisdom for a Divided Nation
by Melissa Braunstein
A few introductions:
Introducing the Cosmopolitan Globalist
By Claire Berlinski
Claire is a long-time expat and foreign correspondents writer, who knows other expat and foreign correspondents. They have gathered to provide in-country analysis of various overseas issues.
Primerrily
From Britt Riner, Alli Pillinger Choi, and Rachel Gerli
Parenting resources and community for "life, liberty, and the pursuit of parenting a patriot"
Based with Hannah Cox
A new podcast on governmental and policy from a libertarian perspective
And the highly recommended read of this Collection:
Everything Is Broken
by Alana Newhouse
"Make a friend and don’t talk politics with them. Do things that generate love and attention from three people you actually know instead of hundreds you don’t. Abandon the blighted Ivy League, please, I beg of you. ... Go back to a house of worship—every week. Give up on our current institutions; they already gave up on us."
|
|
This newsletter is a curated collection of publishings from, about, or of interest to right-of-center women.
If someone forwarded this newsletter to you, then you may sign up here. If you find it helpful or know someone who might be interested, please forward. Many thanks.
|
|
|
|
Leslie also teaches life administration — how to make a household budget or follow a recipe — as in, the stuff that used to be taught at home and in home ec, but these days we hardly notice it until it does not get done. Those podcasts and videos may be found at lifeadministration.com.
|
|
|
|
Hoping things will be quieter for a while but betting otherwise,
|
|
|
|
|
