Ask HN: Somewhat enraged by the technical illiteracy of "the algorithm"

I am increasingly clenching my teeth when politicians and commentators talk about "the algorithm" as if there is only one, and there is only one kind, and only one outcome, which is bad.

I absolutely think the algorithmic feeds in social media are proving fraught with issues. But this is a bit like blaming mathematics for the effects of bombs. It's not the maths, its the application.

Algorithms are a fact of life. If you don't want any, kiss good bye to TCP/IP, BGP routing, DNS, your GPS, synchronised time with NTP, fast database lookup...

yes I know "sir, this is wendy's" - but this really grinds my gears.

We need a better neologism for "that way Facebook exploits social dynamics for profit running the social media feed" than "the algorithm"