Quick reference for data footprints, profiles as guesses, the point system, ranking a feed, the feedback loop, and explore slots.
🧭 Plot Summary
Open a social app and the feed seems to know you. It doesn't read your mind. It records what you do, turns that into a profile, and ranks posts by how well they match, then watches what you do next.
Your mission is to take that apart. You'll judge what a data footprint really shows, build a profile with points, rank a feed by score, and watch a feedback loop narrow what you see. Then you'll ask who decided what the score is made of.
What you'll do in this activity
Judge claims about an invented user: what the data shows, what it only suggests, and what it can't support.
Turn actions into points and build a profile by hand.
Rank posts by score, the way a simple recommender does.
Use the feed lab: react to posts, watch your profile build, and see how the next feed changes.
See how "people like you" and explore slots change what a feed shows.
Think about whose goal a feed serves, and how a platform should handle ads that look like posts.
Ground rules
Use an alias, or no name at all, in any simulator. Never your real name, school or location.
Practice on the invented users and posts provided. Don't try to work out where real classmates or other real people live, go to school, or how they feel from what they post.
A profile is a guess. Don't describe a person as if the guess were a fact.
Why it matters
Every feed you use is a profile plus a score. Knowing how that works helps you notice when a feed is steering you, and gives you the words to ask a company for a change, which you'll do in 3.1.3.
✅ Self-Check Before You Share
Check off each item as you get there. These aren't grades. They're your own signal.
