Matthew Clapham
2 min readJun 19, 2024

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Hi, Terrie. The 'Less like this' button really doesn't seem to be particularly effective. Coincidentally, I have today seen a recurrence of this same issue - less extreme, just 2 or 3 stories by Avi Koetzer in my feed. The algo says it's 'because I follow Language', which is true. But I don't want to unfollow it, or wipe my history, simply because of one glitch. I clicked on 'Less like this' for both stories. They duly disappeared, but when I refreshed the page, another one by the same author popped up at the top of my 'For you' feed! I haven't clicked on a story by that writer for at least 9 or 10 months, so wiping my history would simply eliminate useful signals, without affecting the root cause. This is a very troubling issue for writers, as we reply on the algo's functionality to get out stories seen by readers who have shown an interest in our previous work in similar topic areas. It really doesn't seem very good at that, which I would say is it's basic role. Boosted distribution is a big help, but unboosted stories need all the support they can get, especially as most people use only the 'For you' feed, out of habit from other platforms. Hopefully the workings can be refined. In the specific case cited by Susie here, the number one suspect would be 'high level of reciprocal engagement between author and other users being interpreted by platform as sign of universal popularity and interest'. That strikes me as incorrect logic, but certainly one big factor distinguishing this writer from others is the massive amount of comment exchanges he engages in, given the time he spends on the platform. That should not be spilling over into other people's recommendations, though.

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Matthew Clapham
Matthew Clapham

Written by Matthew Clapham

Professional translator by day. Writer of silly and serious stuff by night. Also by day, when I get fed up of tedious translations. Founder of Iberospherical.

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