The Four: The Hidden DNA of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google

by Scott Galloway

what about all the people who don’t express their politics so clearly? How do you sell political stories to them? Many of them are probably moderates, because most people in America are. And they’re a lot harder to figure out. For each one, the Facebook machine would need a much more sophisticated algorithm to analyze their friend network, movements, zip code, the words they use, and the news sites they visit. It’s a lot of work, and it’s less profitable. Moreover, after all the work, it’s still not a sure thing, because each bucket of moderates to sell to advertisers is based not on direct signals from those individuals, but instead from a host of correlations. Those always come with mistakes. My neighborhood in Greenwich Village is as blue as they come—only 6 percent voted for Trump.43 Pretty sure that means I’m not just living in a bubble, but a windowless, padded cell. However, as far as windowless, padded cells go, it’s pretty nice. Moderates are hard to engage or predict. Picture a video with some guy in a cardigan sweater discussing, in a balanced tone, the pros and cons of free trade with Mexico. How many clicks would that get? Marketing to moderates is like fracking for gas. You only do it if the easier alternatives aren’t available. Thus, we are exposed to less and less calm, reasonable content. So, Facebook, and the rest of the algorithm-driven media, barely bothers with moderates. Instead, if it figures out you lean Republican, it will feed you more Republican ...

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