Glad to hear I'm not alone with these thoughts!
I propose, as a counter movement, automatic engagement; Instead of "liking" or "upvoting", leave a comment every time you see something you support. And try to abstain from commenting on ragebait or otherwise intentional attention seeking. If enough people start doing this, the algorithm should start adapting to prefering more substantial or positive material, right? I know it sounds naive, but worth a shot!
The problem with regulation is that most of these data giants are US companies, and due to regulatory capture since the 1980s you can't expect much to change there.
Amazing! I did not expect that outcome from my comment
I'm no expert, but I feel like anywhere they use an algorithm to drive up "engagement" it leads into people being fed rage-bait and then them acting accordingly. This "attention economy" needs to end somehow.
That function doesn't seem to function properly btw. I have tried with "meme" and "politics" and communities with those words in them still keep popping into my feed on PieFed.
This article was right up my alley. I've been considering buying a cheapo smartwatch. I suppose this one couldn't be used as a mp3 player for jogging though.