Social Media Machines

Social media has become an integral part of our lives. We assume that these systems are tools, made to connect and inspire us, an infinite playground, an uncontrolled network that constantly reinvents itself. But social media is not neutral but highly biased and has an agenda of its own, with the goal of ensuring we stay online and share as much as possible. What we see on social media is decided by algorithms that are highly subjective, favouring popularity and mass instead of content. This influences our opinions and thoughts. How can we interrupt algorithms and rating based systems?

For our project we have created three machines that confuse the algorithm and break the filter bubble. These machines manipulate and interrupt facebook, instagram and twitter, to show how influential social media is in our world and underline the need to take back control as users.