A reader recently told me that one of the reasons she enjoys this magazine is because she doesn’t feel like she is being manipulated by an algorithm. She reads what she wants, when she wants, and finds it much more relaxing than scrolling through social media. Although I’m from a generation that should be old enough to resist manipulation by social media platforms, I know exactly how hard that is. Many platforms now track not just what we like, but how long we hover over a photo, whether we re-watch a video, and even what our friends are interested in. Looking back over this issue before it goes to the printer, I am again reminded that we live in a different era. This month, we publish an interview with Jon Lee Anderson about his latest book on Afghanistan. It is exactly 20 years since we last published an interview with him, and how things have changed. Those of us horrified by the events of 9/11 and the subsequent ‘war on terror’—which appears to have ended with the US handing Afghanistan back to the Taliban—have seen the powerful influence of the internet used to sway elections, divide opinions and intensify a partisan and tribal age. Battle lines drawn over issues like Brexit turned out to have been inflated by micro-targeting and algorithmic amplification of unverified claims—many of which were later found to be untrue. The algorithm is all-powerful. Early social media was chronological (you saw the most recent post). Current platforms use predictive AI to curate what we see, meaning the platform now decides what you see based on your psychological profile, rather than who you choose to follow. The Marshwood Vale Magazine is now in its 25th year. We will reach that milestone in November and will continue to provide a platform for learning about environment, local culture and the arts, without the yoke of an algorithm.
