Customized Truth
The comforting, addictive, and incomplete world of our social media feeds.
You and I believe we’re seeing the world on social media. We’re not. We’re seeing OUR WORLD - an alternate reality designed specifically to keep us scrolling.
On social media, we’re all living a bespoke reality.
Platforms don’t just show us “content.” They learn what makes us click, react, and linger — and then they feed us more of exactly that. The result is a custom-made stream of stories, people, and ideas calibrated to keep us engaged. The more time we spend in the feed, the better it gets at tailoring that feed. It’s not neutral. It’s not comprehensive.
It’s engineered to please you, not to show you the whole truth.
We think we control our feed. We don’t. Between what we like, comment on, and share, we’ve literally taught the algorithms what matters to us — and what will keep us scrolling. The algorithm learns, adapts, and “bespokifies” your world.
That’s why social media is like the parable of the blind men and the elephant: each person touches one part — an ear, a tail, a tusk — and insists they’ve seen the whole beast. But no single feed gives you the entire elephant. You get a fragment shaped and customized to your tastes. That fragment may contain truth, but it’s not the whole truth.
You think it is, but it’s not.
If you want something closer to the truth — as scientists do — you must step outside your bespoke bubble. Science doesn’t cherry-pick evidence that fits a hypothesis; its methods are built to test against counterexamples. Findings are tested, re-tested, and examined by many eyes searching for mistakes and bias.
Consensus emerges slowly and imperfectly, but it’s formed by looking at the full range of evidence, not just the parts that make them feel good.
So if you’re passionate about the world — great.
Passion fuels inquiry. But if your “news diet” is mostly social feeds, influencer takes, or highly curated opinion outlets, don’t mistake that curated view for the whole picture. You’re seeing a tailored slice of reality — a myopic, pleasing perspective — not the full landscape of reality.
Is there a simple fix? Not really.
But the first step is simple: know you’re not getting everything.
Seek countervailing facts. Read beyond curated feeds. Let discomfort into your information diet occasionally.
Awareness is a small but crucial step out of the bespoke.
Full disclosure: I first encountered the term “bespoke” in René Direstra’s Invisible Rulers. If you spend a lot of time on social media and think you’re immune to manipulation — chances are very high that you’re not.
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The more I read about, and think about, those algorithms, the more I feel that I am missing some of what my acquaintances are seeing and reading. We have developed differing viewpoints without being exposed to the whole range of information/mis-information that is out there.