Gaming Reddit's Algorithm: r/the_donald, Amplification, and the Rhetoric of Sorting

摘要

From June through October 2016-and beyond-the subreddit r/the_donald periodically took over parts of Reddit, making its content dominant on the ninth largest social media platform in the US. Users of r/the_donald did this by learning how Reddit's sorting algorithm worked and taking advantage of nuances in the way the platform was programmed. This was not a hack but instead was a strategic manipulation. While r/the_donald is an extreme example of manipulating sorting algorithms, similar usages take place on other platforms as well, from Twitter to Facebook to Google to YouTube. Simply put, sorting algorithms can be used rhetorically to change arguments. Understanding how these usages take place may help users understand how algorithms can "amplify" arguments, making them more dominant on specific platforms and more likely to carry further onto other platforms. It may be useful for researchers to be aware of how algorithms can be used rhetorically so that they are able to critique how content is sorted and hold programmers accountable for programming choices they make. Teachers may be able to help students to see the ways content can be manipulated so that they are more aware of how sorting algorithms may have amplified arguments.