Research pilot – Vibe Check
Strategy · Research · Writing · Program Management
Recommendation algorithms can be found on your favorite social media sites, bubbling up content “you might like”. This technology is responsible for recommending products, content, or even people that share similar traits with other products, content, or people you interact with.
Personalisation algorithms are more subtle. This technology adjusts the product itself to better meet your anticipated needs. The best example of this is Netflix. They will publish the same show title with a different thumbnail based on what is more likely to make you click.
While the technology is ubiquitous, this study found that recommendation and personalisation algorithms effect Black British people differently than they do white British people.
- Black British participants said they were more hesitant to adopt new technologies, products, and features due to the negative experiences they had while using existing technologies.
- Harms were intersectionality reported. That is to say, while Black women reported similar experiences to white women and Black men, they also reported experiences unique to them.
- Given identical learning instructions, Black British people took longer to complete the self-guided module because they were forced to take “breaks” due to the nature of the topics.
