True that.

I think when most people talk about "the algorithm", they are talking about an algorithm that targets each user individually such that even if two people are on the same part of the site at the same time with the same preferences set, they will see different (personalised) content.

That kind of personalised algorithm is certainly what I want to avoid. I don't really mind how the visible content is chosen, but I do want to have some sense of shared experience so that we aren't just talking past each other. I want to know that if I tell someone to go to a website then they'll see what I see.

Random is an algorithm