With this in mind, we can now go back to the five criteria Facebook uses (according to the TechCrunch article) to filter out my blueberry pie, and explain how the connection with Abraham’s continual recreation consciousness is the best way to filter a feed.
Here’s the first three from the article:
● How popular (Liked, commented on, shared, clicked) are the post creator’s past posts with everyone ● How popular is this post with everyone who has already seen it ● How popular have the post creator’s past posts been with the viewer The popularity of posts relates to the blessing that God promised Abraham, “and I will make your name great.” God blessed Abraham with popularity. So too by connecting with Abraham, each of us should merit to both write and receive those posts that also have this quality of authentic popularity. Although the blueberry pie recipe may not go viral, presumably it was posted for the benefit of others, and not as an act of self-promotion. But as mentioned, the more we connect to the authenticity of Abraham, the more sensitive we become to detect the authenticity around us.
Facebook’s fourth qualification:
● Does the type of post (status update, photo, video, link) match what types have been popular with the viewer in the past Abraham knew how to speak with the people at the time. Every generation has its means of connecting with others. Now we have Facebook and Twitter. Abraham invited nomads to meals at his tent in the desert in order to teach them to bless God.
Facebook’s fifth qualification:
● How recently was the post published This last criteria is better rephrased as “how recently did the poster recreate him/herself.” Someone can post something that is 20 or 50 years old and have it seem as new, whereas something from a second or minute before may appear old.
Preparing for Passover, we clean our house even from particles of chametz (leaven). How then should you clean your news feed?
Even the slightest particle or amount of “puffing up,” leavening of the ego is too much when it comes to Passover. Spiritually speaking then, this is a good time to resolve ourselves to only let it flat and transparent content into our feeds … content without any “puffing.”
Are advertisements puffy?
Even “in-feed” advertising can be considered valuable content. It all depends on the author and intention, not whether the placement are paid. Advertising platforms like ShareThrough, Promoted Tweets or Facebook Ad posts don’t need to be invasive if both the poster and the content is free from spiritual chametz (leavening), a puffy ego.
So how do you filter the feed? Not from an algorithm that takes into account “100,000 factors” (like Facebook’s) or Artificial Intelligence, but from our very own built-in filters. The more we become sensitive to signs of chametz, puffiness, the more we attune our ability to find genuine, authentic content in the world.