I turned off my algorithm for 24 hours. Is this how social media used to be?

Thanks to a little-known feature in Instagram, I try to travel back to 2012 – before everything on the internet was an ad Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast I have a confession. I love my social media algorithm.

It is a perfectly curated window into my insane and inquiring mind. It knows precisely which videos will tickle me and which memes will gently distract me from the slow collapse of humankind. On Tuesday the Australian government announced “world-leading” reforms that would force social media platforms to allow users to opt-out of algorithms, dubbed “my…