The social power of algorithms

“Here, we see the role of algorithms, as decision-making parts of code (see Beer, 2013, p. 65), as being analytic and decisive (for a discussion of the role of algorithms in data analytics, see Kitchin, 2014, pp. 100–112).”

“Since online platforms have become the “new governors” of speech [83], they have been analyzed through the lens of political theory and legitimacy [16, 48, 83, 100, 131, 149, 151].”

“From a social scienti fi c point of view, algorithms exist not only in codes but also in the social consciousness as part of a knowledge apparatus (Beer, 2017; Gillespie, 2014).”

“It is therefore important to understand algorithms and algorithmic decision-making, regardless of context, as ‘deeply relational and being a product of a set of associations’ (Beer, 2017a: 7).”

“opinions of people about the content they recommend [9]. Likewise, Willson and Beer suggest studying algorithms that work semi-autonomously and exert power with no supervision from human counterparts [4, 53]. This body of work highlights the relevance of recommendation systems and their implications for users and soci…”

“In order to understand user attitudes and algorithm behaviors, research must consider algorithm quality, user heuristics, and recognized value (Bolin and Schwarz 2015).”

“The critical analysis of software and programed systems has received a great deal of attention (Beer, 2017; Gillespie, 2014; Kitchin, 2017; Rieder, 2017) due to the increasingly important role programed systems play in the con fi guration of communication and interaction processes in society.”

“…in recommendation and persuasion algorithms being widely used nowadays, offering people advice on what to read, what to buy, where to eat, or whom to date, and people often assume that these AI judgments are objective, efficient, and reliable [4–6]; a phenomenon often known as machine bias [7].”

“The analysis of such mass volumes of data is made possible by the application of computerized algorithms which are distinguished from the static ‘models’ used in traditional statistical analyses by their dynamic and recursive character (Beer, 2017).”

“Even though investors do not completely understand the ‘black box’ operations behind algorithms, they perceive algorithms to be objective and neutral mechanisms that are efficient and reliable (Beer, 2017).”

“The combination of machines, numbers, and biology legitimizes a technical, scientific, and objective discourse around biometrics (Muller 2004), which is significant because it plays a crucial role in the production of ‘truths’ (Beer 2017).”

“The great potential of an algorithm-driven economy is broadly acknowledged, and there is mounting enthusiasm and pressure to achieve the vision of an algorithm-based society (Beer 2017).”

“The online discussants were not fooled by the idea of objectivity often connected to algorithms (e.g., Beer, 2016; Markham et al., 2018): according to one anonymous forum poster, “algorithm is just a fancier name for a list of things that represents hate speech according to the one who made it.”

“There is a very well-documented literature on machine learning, artificial intelligence, and algorithms that stresses continual change (e.g., Ananny, 2016; Beer, 2017; Klinger and Svensson, 2018).”

“6 In developing our analysis, we are mindful of several difficulties present in the now expansive literature on algorithms (see Beer, 2017; Christin, 2020; Dourish, 2016; Rieder, 2017; Seaver, 2017; 2018).”

“For instance, factors like gang affiliation and number of prior narcotic arrests have been removed in the latest iteration of the SSL because they have been found to not significantly impact the score.51 Other variables, such as age at most recent arrest and recent shooting incidents, are given more weight since these…”

“Bias in data that re fl ects humans ’ hidden values is a major source of algorithmic bias (Beer, 2017).”

“…y, en general, cómo la tecnología da forma a los procesos educativos formales, informales y no formales, incluso a su moralidad (Kroes & Verbeek, 2014), en una época en la que, por ejemplo, algoritmos opacos están tomando decisiones pedagógicas (Beer, 2017; P. B. de Laat, 2017; Williamson, 2017).”

“It is a reconfiguration that favors effectivity over “authenticity” or fixity (Cheney-Lippold, 2011, 2017: 6), a configuration that is logistical (Morris, 2015) rather than epistemological (Lash, 2007), and one that leaves language, social theory, and social expertise behind.”

“The prioritization of these goals and values often re fl ects prevalent social norms, moral standards, or the speci fi c interests and preferences of the developers (Beer, 2017).”

“Although some studies have interpreted algorithms as constructing technical and material presence (Beer, 2017), other studies have demonstrated (Amoore & Piotukh, 2015) these calculative devices matter beyond their speci fi c functions as they progressively shape, transform and govern all areas of…”

“In examining “the algorithm as a thing and the algorithm as a word,” I choose words rather than the content of techniques as the site of critique (Beer, 2017, p. 9).”

“Algorithms produce, process, filter, prioritize, and recommend content, and by doing so they shape and engage with the contemporary everyday (Willson 2017) and have thus become crucial actors in social ordering processes (Beer 2017).”

“Beer (2017) warns that low transparency increases the risk that the public may “mis-judge [algorithms’] power, to overemphasize their importance, to misconceive of the algorithm as a lone detached actor. . . ” (p. 3).”

“The calculative systems and techniques to process information have become ever faster, more comprehensive and more autonomous in recent years (Beer 2017).”

“, 2019a), journalism studies (Bechmann & Nielbo, 2018), mass communication studies (Beer, 2017), and social media studies (Auxier & Vitak, 2019).”

“, feeling capable, self-governed, well-supported, and satisfied with their state; Brown and Ryan, 2003) Therefore, SDT explains well the influence mechanism of algorithmic decision autonomy on consumer purchase decisions (Beer, 2017).”

“This is accounted for in studies on the socio-technical context of AS, where algorithms are viewed as situated artefacts and generative processes embedded in a complex ecosystem (Beer, 2017; Willson, 2017).”

“In addition to genuine computer science publications (Chowdhary, 2020; Mackworth & Poole, 2017; Russell & Norvig, 2016; Kaplan, 2016), publications in the intersection of computer science, social and cultural sciences are indirectly relevant for this research (e.g., Bostrom, 2017; Beer, 2017).”

“Prinsloo (2017: 145) sets out how increased digitization has combined with the proliferation of regimes of audit and quality, to lead to greater use of algorithmic decision-making in higher education.”

“Beer (2017) examines the social power of algorithms in promoting certain visions of calculative objectivity and provides crucial insights that shape our understanding of contemporary information systems.”

“Algorithmic platforms claim to offer what is relevant to us individually while veiling their very operation behind a discourse of impartiality and objectivity (Beer, 2017; Bucher, 2017, 2018; Carmi, 2020; Kant, 2020).”

“Studies have argued that users ’ literacy about curation algorithms and their experiences with them, might a ff ect their attitudes towards how the platform should be used (Beer, 2017).”

“The algorithmic power is manifested when the visibility regimes of digital platforms prompt users to increase online engagement (Beer, 2017; Bucher, 2012), but users have the potential to seize the algorithmic power by strategically interacting with the sys-tem (Ramizo, 2021).”

“In outlining their makeup, researchers aim to better grasp how algorithms make decisions and shape the world in which they operate (Beer, 2016).”

“In our data‐driven media landscape, algorithms play an increasingly important role in how online users use, navi‐ gate, and consume online information and communica‐ tion (Beer, 2017; Lee, 2018; Ricci, 2015).”

“Communication research abounds with critical discussions of algorithmic culture (Beer, 2017; Kitchin, 2017; Prey, 2018; Willson, 2017), typically framed to discuss how recommendation systems are never neutral, but always imbued with vested interests of those with the strengths to in fl uence what we…”

“However, digital tools themselves create few opportunities for higher modes of learning (Mukhtarov, Dieperink, & Driessen, 2018), and do not replace deliberative processes (Beer, 2017).”

“In this regard, we shift our attention to data as “a notion that carries some persuasive weight and is likely to be suggestive of wider power claims and rationalities” (Beer, 2017, p. 8).”

“Insgesamt hat dieser Abschnitt argumentiert, dass die soziale Wirkmächtigkeit des Algorithmus auf seiner organisationalen Einbettung basiert.”

“As a result, across a wide range of disciplines, there is an emerging programme of research examining the societal implications and politics of this paradigm with privacy, profiling, discrimination and surveillance all priority concerns of algorithmic and data-driven processes (Beer, 2017; Dencik, Hintz, & Cable, 2016…”

“Others have deployed various tactics and strategies to avoid being “fed” by machines, platforms, and algorithms; they have even tried to change the output results of algorithms (Beer 2017).”

“The findings of this paper are behaviors that enable both humans and AI to manifest themselves through automation and augmentation (Beer, 2017).”

“For Beer (2017), following Foucault, they possess a total character as the central governance institution of the twenty-first century.”

“This conceptual paper then, fi rstly, contributes to the literature on the social power operating through algorithms (Beer, 2017).”

“However, as David Beer rightly points out, it is a “mistake” to see the algorithm solely as “technical and self‑con‑ tained object” (Beer, 2017, 4).”

“Recent data incidents such as the Cambridge Analytica scandal demonstrate the power data have over elections (Confessore, 2018; Zittrain, 2013), over our behaviour (Beer, 2017), and over our regulatory capacities (Yeung, 2017).”

“Much research has already been conducted into the social power and politics of algorithms (Beer, 2009, 2017; Cheney-Lippold, 2016; Gillespie, 2014; Kotliar, 2020; Willson, 2017).”

“Pivotal to this call by Bucher is the notion of algorithmic imaginaries (2017) .”

“For example, classi fi cation and hierarchization processes are not neutral, as they entail deliberate and power-laden choices over what is shown and what remains hidden (Beer, 2017).”

“This power depends on the way in which they are “ a part of broader rationalities, broader programs of social change and development ” (Beer, 2016).”

“In sum, they have the agential capacity, but it is difficult to understand how their power is exercised in practice (Beer, 2017; Kitchin, 2014).”

“Given the societal role of ADA-related technologies [6], these governmental plans seem to be reasonably sensitive to the changes associated with the so-called Industry 4.”

“Most providers have created applications where users (and law enforcement agencies) can report violations of these terms (Beer, 2017; Hoffmann, 2019; Kunst et al., 2021; Porten‐Cheé et al., 2020) and algorithms support the automatic detection of forbidden content (Katzenbach & Ulbricht, 2019).”

“Sociologist David Beer conceptualizes it according to its ‘ social power ’ , as driven by the ‘ need to understand what algorithms are and what they do in order to fully grasp their influence and consequences ’ (Beer 2017, 3).”

“…have explicitly focused on authority, arguing that authority is increasingly privatized (Cutler et al., 1999); internalized (Dean, 1996; Huxley, 2006); fragmented (Sassen, 2006); diffuse and deterritorialized (Agnew, 2005; Green, 2016); and automated and depersonalized (Amoore, 2013; Beer, 2017).”

“Furthermore, scholars have demonstrated that the ways in which social media platforms are perceived and imagined also affect users’ expectations, uses and understandings of the platforms (Beer 2017; Bucher 2017).”