Self as Systems: The Sum of Wholes

Who the algorithm thinks I am

A data visualization of who the algorithm thinks I am, and who the algorithm thinks the average new user is.

The Sum of Wholes pulls from two perspectives: my tailored images that Pinsage, Pinterest's aggregate algorithm, suggests to me after I've interacted for years and curated a specific "aesthetic;" it also pulls from the perspective of a completely fresh user—the bare bones of a typical, average image algorithm, nontailored at all.

I requested my data from Pinterest, and was provided (among other data) the metatags for what is tailored to my account.

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Scraping Pinterest's inferences

Using a data scraper, I pulled the top 100 images correlated to a specific internal tag (ie: "design," "food," etc.) for both the new user and from my account.