In reality, the algorithm has no idea who you are. It sees your previous behaviors as a string of numbers that it can compare to clusters of other people’s behavior-numbers and then make predictions about what kind of content you would enjoy.

However, even the act of training the algorithm comes with the egotistical assumption that individual videos were meant for you in the first place. By identifying with a piece of content, you implicitly assume that you were part of its intended audience. After all, why wouldn’t you be? It was on your “For You” Page.

Unfortunately, the very notion of... See more