How Amazon puts misinformation on your reading list | John Naughton

Algorithms routinely come up with ‘recommendations’ for anti-vax ‘bestsellers’ or juices that cure cancerIt’s a truism that we live in a “digital age”. It would be more accurate to say that we live in an algorithmically curated era – that is, a period when many of our choices and perceptions are shaped by machine-learning algorithms that nudge us in directions favoured by those who employ the programmers who write the necessary code.A good way of describing them would be as recommender engines. They monitor your digital trail and note what interests you – as evidenced by what you’ve browsed or purchased online. Amazon, for example, regularly offers me suggestions for items that are “based on your browsing history”. It also shows me a list of what people who purchased the item I’m considering also bought. YouTube’s engine notes what kinds of videos I have watched – and logs how much of each I have watched before clicking onwards – and then presents on the right-hand side of the screen an endlessly-scrolling list of videos that might interest me based on what I’ve just watched. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2020-08-08 16:00:12 UTC ]
News tagged with: #digital age #browsing history

Other Publishing stories related to: 'How Amazon puts misinformation on your reading list | John Naughton'


The 5 Books On Bill Gates’s Summer Reading List–From Jimmy Carter To Trevor Noah

If you are worried your beach reads might be a little too easy this summer, Gates has some more heady suggestions for you. As one of the world’s top philanthropists, perhaps it makes sense that Bill Gates is treating beach reading like an intellectual cause: Each year, he offers up his list of... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2017-05-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #bill gates #jimmy carter #trevor noah #beach reads #makes sense


Amazon Starts Weekly Bestseller Lists

The new feature, called Amazon Charts, includes two weekly lists. One details the retailer's top 20 titles sold (across all of its platforms), and the other highlights the 20 most read (or listened to) books. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-05-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Amazon Charts ranks books by what people are actually reading

Bestseller lists like the one at the New York Times measure a book's success by how many copies its sold. What it doesn't do is tell you how many of those books are being read, nor how fast. Amazon Charts aims to fix this problem with a new, weekly b... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2017-05-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #bestseller lists


Mark Zuckerberg should try living in the real world | John Naughton

The Facebook founder puts all his faith in an empowering ‘global community’ to cure all our ills. Dream onOn Thursday 16 February, Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and supreme leader of Facebook, the world’s most populous virtual country (population 2bn) published an epistle to his 89m... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2017-05-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #important question #global community


“SNL” And John Oliver Pulled No Punches In Putting Bill O’Reilly On Blast

Bill O’Reilly has just entered the Nose Pin Zone, where advertisers would have to clamp something over their nostrils in order to not smell the toxic publicity coming from his recent sexual harassment lawsuit revelations. It started with a months-in-the-works New York Times article on April 1,... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2017-04-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #fox news #message directly #sexual harassment #sexual assault


Are these 'daring' books on your reading list?

This year's Baileys Prize hopefuls include one debut novelist and a previous winner. Continue reading at BBC News

[ BBC News | 2017-04-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #debut novelist #previous winner


Authors offered $5k to join Amazon's Prime Reading

Amazon US is offering authors $5,000 upfront in lieu of royalties to incorporate their books into its unlimited reading programme for Prime members. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-03-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #prime reading #prime members


Russia blamed for Amazon listing of anti-Trump book

Historian Timothy Snyder’s On Tyranny, which offers lessons on resisting repressive rule, provokes fake book listing that repeats slogan seen on pro-Putin posters Publishers believe that Russian individuals are behind the creation of an fake book parodying a self-styled manual for resisting US... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2017-03-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #russia blamed #offers lessons #self-styled manual #populist leaders #contained lessons #pro-donald trump #russian federation


Russia blamed for hacking Amazon listing of anti-Trump book

Historian Timothy Snyder’s On Tyranny, which offers lessons on resisting repressive rule, has sales blurb rewritten to repeat slogan seen on pro-Putin posters Publishers believe that Russian hackers are behind an attack on the Amazon page for a self-styled manual for resisting US president... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2017-03-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #russia blamed #offers lessons #russian hackers #self-styled manual #populist leaders #contained lessons #pro-donald trump #russian federation


Book filled with blank pages tops Amazon's best seller list

A joke book "written'' by a conservative author and filled with blank pages in a dig at Democrats is the top selling book on Amazon. Continue reading at Stuff

[ Stuff | 2017-03-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book filled #seller list #conservative author


Trump's reading list

Everything President Trump has tweeted (and what it was about) March 3, 2017, 12:16 p.m. His tweets have the power to shape international relations, send stock prices up - or down - and galvanize the American public. We're watching how Donald Trump is using this platform of unfettered... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2017-03-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #president trump


Putting reading centre stage

Sheikha Bodour Bint Sultan Bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, founder and c.e.o. of Sharjah publishing house Kalimat Group and founder of the Emirates Publishers Association, tells Benedicte Page about some of the latest initiatives taking place in the United Arab Emirates, including the new national... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-11-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Amazon Adds Free Books to the Ever-Growing List of Prime Benefits

US Prime members can now get unlimited access to a rotating selection of reading materials. The post Amazon Adds Free Books to the Ever-Growing List of Prime Benefits appeared first on WIRED. Continue reading at Wired

[ Wired | 2016-10-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #ever-growing list #prime members #unlimited access #rotating selection


Amazon Prime subscribers now have free ebooks, magazines and more with Prime Reading

If you have been looking for one more reason to become an Amazon Prime subscriber, the newly launched Prime Reading feature could just be the clincher. Prime Reading gives US subscribers access to a library of free Kindle ebooks, magazines, comics and other publications completely free of... Continue reading at Betanews

[ Betanews | 2016-10-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #top magazines #free ebooks #prime reading #exclusive content #rotating selection #kindle device


Prime Members Now Get Unlimited Reading On Any Device, Amazon Announces - Deal Alert

Amazon has just announced one more compelling reason to consider a Prime membership -- "Prime Reading". As a Prime member, you now have unlimited access to over a thousand books, current issue magazines, comics, Kindle Singles, and more. With access from any device – including your phone,... Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2016-10-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #kindle singles #prime members #unlimited reading #compelling reason #prime reading #prime member #thousand books #unlimited music #photo storage #prime memberships


Amazon 'Kindle Reading Fund' makes books more available to those without access

The ability to read is something many of us take for granted. At a young age, you probably had tons of books in your homes and schools, enabling you to learn to both read and write. Believe it or not, not everyone has access to books. Isn't that sad? Luckily, Amazon is looking to change this.... Continue reading at Betanews

[ Betanews | 2016-08-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #makes books #fire tablets #kindle ebooks


Hawkins and Macdonald on Obama's summer reading list

US president Barack Obama has released his official summer reading list, which includes Paula Hawkins’ The Girl on the Train (Doubleday) and H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald (Vintage). Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-08-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #train doubleday


TV War and Peace puts Tolstoy's book on bestseller list for first time

Epic novel, whose length has long discouraged readers, has made it on to the Bookseller’s top 50 after the BBC’s acclaimed new adaptationBritain is racing to address the fact that only 4% of Britons have read War and Peace, with Leo Tolstoy’s doorstopping epic entering the UK’s book charts for... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2016-02-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #bestseller list #nielsen bookscan #records began #total sales #combined sales


French Readers Put Arab Authors on the Bestseller List

After years of writing about radicalization and terrorism in the Middle East, Arab authors are now in the spotlight in France as readers try to understand the recent Paris attacks. The post French Readers Put Arab Authors on the Bestseller List appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2016-01-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #bestseller list #middle east #arab authors


Amazon Echo can read your Kindle books aloud on request

You don't even need to lift a finger when you're done playing Jeopardy! on Amazon Echo and want to relax with a book. Simply say "Alexa, read [Kindle book title]," and the voice assistant will start narrating almost anything you purchased from the Ki... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2016-01-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #amazon echo