No more bad memories: Facebook tweaks its algorithm

To mangle the phrase "If it's not written down, it didn't happen", the modern-day equivalent is surely "If it's not on Facebook, it's not a real experience". Compounding this view of Facebook as a (distorted) mirror for our life experiences, the social networking site has updated its Memories feature in a way that "packages your recent memories in a delightful way for you to enjoy and share". So, no need to sit down with actual friends and family in real life to reminisce – you can enjoy your memories as Facebook bundles them into monthly or seasonal recap stories.

Interestingly, Facebook says it has also tweaked this particular Memories algorithm to help users avoid negative feelings by filtering content in order to select photos that are “more enjoyable” to the individual. In one way, this is a good thing to avoid traumatising people, but Facebook is already a platform for sharing positive experiences; people rarely post about bad hair days, announce they didn’t get that promotion or share disappointingly ugly food pics. Now we will get the best of the best, further sanitising our lives for online consumption and approval.