"The algorithm is absolutely tuned to maximize engagement in an maximally empirical, principle-less way"

"[S]o, relevant to the lawsuits, and some foreshadowing from Mark in Q&A just now –– basically the company position is that time spent and engagement metrics proxy user value and we are 'not' just tuning the algorithm to keep people scrolling as much and as long as possible … except mechanically we absolutely do through a process called the 'guided value model' (GVM) process. GVM halves and doubles the weights on every major relevance term, which is then fed into an algorithm that is told to optimize for (a) sessions; and (b) vpvs. It spits out a bunch of changes to the weights of different terms and then we ship it. So really, the algorithm is absolutely tuned to maximize engagement in an maximally empirical, principle-less way. I am not sure that the youth legal people realize this, and that it applies to teens just as much as gen pop… so the things contained in the lawsuits are somewhat hard to refute so long as Teens are part of the GVM process."