What the Algorithm Misses

[Content and activation warning for mentions of death]

This has been a difficult and heavy week for so many in academe with the passing of our friend and colleague Dr. Raul Pacheco-Vega. The outpouring of grief and the tributes have all focused on one thing, which is that he was a kind and giving human, who tried to make academe a better place every day. And for the last few days as information is being shared about his passing it has become important to me to think about Raul not just as Raul the academic, but Raul the person, his whole self. Because Raul was nothing be real and authentic and I keep hearing that word being tossed around a lot this week in different spaces, and so this week's blog is going to be about that, about the stories that the algorithm misses, or doesn't show you, and the importance of realness because that is often what people remember the most about you when you are no longer around.

And this is also an important topic because a few days ago we also lost Marjane Satrapi, which is also a massive loss. I used to teach Persepolis and I had a lot of students from the Iranian diaspora in the class. And the conversations about the book were difficult and often students disagreed with each other and the book and from that came hard conversations, but needed conversations, about how communities are not monolithic and experiences are personal. We are living in times where the algorithm, depending on your connections, will sell you a version of the world that simply is not the reality or the truth for others. It is also used to suppress or mute the versions of the world one does not want to engage with.

Raul started blogging around the same time I did and his blog has become a real resource to many folk in the academic community. Before the pandemic, he had moments of ill health, and he started talking openly about the importance of work-life balance and how academic structures and expectations can impact health. These were real conversations that connected with so many, because it exposed the hidden curriculum and expectations that are often in academic spaces. For first-generation scholars this is important information, but also a great reminder for so many of how the system assumes typical and neurotypical bodyminds, but also assumes certain positionalities as being more welcome. These are often conversations people feel should not be public, but rather things whispered in community corners.

I was thinking about all this this week, as I try to grapple with the loss of Raul, as I think about Arley whom we also lost too soon. I have been reflecting on how so many folk in academe don't understand how a certain bodymind or positionality means more chance of real harm, not just in academic space, but in the world. People die simply by existing in the world as themselves with their bodyminds, because the systems fail them or are set up for harm. And during Pride month and Indigenous History Month it is important emphasize that reality. These are things the algorithm will also hide from you or from students in a search unless you make it clear to them to search for them and engage with those ideas. 

And as I grapple with all this, on Friday I had in the space of 4 hours the most rewarding conversations with 3 different groups of people that made me stop and realize how lucky I am that I managed to curate so many authentic humans that I can connect with locally. And that word authentic is important to this conversation and this blog. Etymologically authentic comes the Latin and Greek for "original, genuine" but it also mean being a real human and interacting with others in way that fosters a sense of trust. As I have mentioned many times and in workshops I have facilitated, trust is not one and done work, trust is about consistency. Because Raul, Raul was authentic; Arley, Arley was authentic. They showed up for people in ways consistent to that authenticity and realness. This is the kind of way I also try to navigate the world, because this is the way my grandfather taught me, and his memory and teachings live in me daily - an immigrant from Italy who came with nothing, and really embodied relationality, collectivity, and the importance of mutual aid. 

The conversations I had on Friday all also centered around what being authentic means. Because often when we hear authentic in academic spaces it should come with a little asterisk * that says "terms and conditions apply" because so very often it is only certain people with certain positionalities that get to be authentic. Living a life of authenticity is necessary, but also sadly a privilege. Because there's so many assumptions that are made within community that everyone will share morals and values, and of course that is not the case. My ex-partner whose family is from Trinidad, used to say this thing that comes for Zora Neale Hurston that I loved for the truth of it which is "skinfolk ain't always kinfolk." Because the truth is even if you identify as queer you may not have the interest of the queer community in mind in the way you act or are in the world. Or even if you identify as disabled you may not have the interest of disability community in mind, or maybe only have a small subset of folk within that community in mind in the way you are in the world. And maybe you have competing interests that mean that fiscal considerations take over moral or community ones.

And this is again important, because if you identify has part of any marginalized or equity deserving community, one of the absolute ways of being in this world is to make sure that the people you surround yourself with are authentically interested in your collective struggle, because the alternative sometimes can literally be death. You learn quickly who your people are, who will keep you safe, and who are very dangerous to your well-being, so they are to be actively avoided. We talk a lot about this in the disabled spaces I'm in as crip survival. None of these narratives however, are in your algorithm. These realities exist outside the algorithm. You can't search up this truth, it is embodied, lived, experienced. This is how folk continue to survive. Because for so many living and sharing truth, being able to highlight harms in our spaces is a privilege that some have and others do not. 

We are lucky to have been blessed with folk like Raul, like Arley, writers like Marjane Satrapi, who spoke truth, who shared experiences, who made things clearer for others in the work that was still to be done. The algorithm, and the tools trained on it, will always be failed insight into reality. The algorithm will disappear folk from your feed if the words they use don't gel with what the platform is trying to promote. The algorithm will do its work to share or hide these very words with you. So this weekend, if you are lucky enough to have a group of folk, authentic folk (without the terms and conditions), who get you on very complex levels of your existence, thank them because we are all here on borrowed time, and we shouldn't wait until someone is gone to give them their flowers and that gratitude. Thank you Raul, you were a real one, and we will miss you so much.