God vs. The Algorithm
The algorithm sees data, but God sees you.
There are many pieces of technology in today’s world that baffle me. Things that I don’t feel the need to explore or completely understand because they are just there.
Like the cloud. Or the infamous algorithm.
The algorithm seems to be the controller of all these days. It chooses what you see and don’t see, and studies you closer than anyone else in your life. It asks you to keep scrolling so that you might be more and more satisfied with what it gives you.
But the other day I was thinking about the content on social media, and the process required to get it integrated into the algorithm—how it goes from an idea to a viewable thing that exists on the internet.
I understand on a basic level that my social media feeds bring me certain kinds of content because I interact with posts that are similar, but these posts don’t just spontaneously appear online. I don’t conjure their creation based on my scrolling habits.
Whoever takes those pictures I pause and zoom in on, whoever designs the graphics of the quotes that I screenshot, whoever films the videos that make me laugh—anything that exists on the internet (aside from the AI generated content that, to be honest, is getting a little frightening) starts with an idea given to a person.
Maybe they get the idea and start creating right then and there. Or maybe the idea rumbles around in their head for a while.
Either way, they go through that process, open their own social media platform, and hit post, sending it out into the abyss, never knowing who might see it.
The algorithm will then sift and sort it, shuffling it into the lineup of content a viewer might like. That viewer then sees it, interacts with it (or not), and then keeps scrolling. And so the cycle continues and continues and continues.
As a result, it is easy to believe in a kind of “fate” and to want to thank the algorithm for delivering content in front of my eyes that inspires me or shifts my perspective.
But when I step back a bit, I can’t help but think there is something bigger at play—someone.
Because in the grand scheme of things, when we consider how many people are clicking post, when we realize how much content the algorithm has the opportunity to show us compared to what we actually see, it all starts to feel a bit more random, like a very small bite of an enormous pie.
But when we get that feeling that something we scroll across is meant for us, when it speaks to something we were just worrying about, or answers a prayer we just prayed, I can’t help but believe that the “fate” we’re believing in is actually God at work.
I believe that God is always using those around us to create and post and reach out so that we might not feel so alone. Which is why amongst all the garbage that we might scroll past, amongst the endless stream of things we might see when we hit refresh, sometimes we find that thing that we actually needed. Sometimes we see something that makes us, in turn, feel seen.
Like anywhere else, if we look for God online, we can find him. Because chances are, He’s trying to find us. He’s given someone an idea that might change everything for us. And when I consider that a post comes up on my feed for a purpose, not as a product of a mathematic equation, then I in turn am reminded of my purpose. I am reminded that none of this is random. These days, this life, the people around me, none of them are random or coincidence or lucky. It is all intentionally designed by the one who knows the plans for the universe.
So don’t hesitate to believe that when something feels like it’s for you, it is.
Not because of a combination of numbers, not because of what you’ve liked, disliked, shared, or reposted, but because of who you are and the plans God has for your life. Because of what you need and the exact way God knows you need to hear it. Because even though the internet is a dark, scary place, God is doing everything in his power to make you feel less alone, to let you know that he sees you, loves you, and is always with you.
The algorithm learns from you, but God teaches you.
The algorithm course corrects, but God makes a way.
The algorithm is ever changing, but God stays the same.
The algorithm sees data, but God sees you.