How Smart is Microsoft Edge’s Feed?
Here is an experiment with Nickelback
I can’t recall my chain of thought when I started browsing my internet through Microsoft Edge. I drown in their ‘relevant’ ads and feed.
But I am in no mood to shift to the previous browser. So all I am left to do is try to float in ads and feeds.
And…
share my experience with you.
Yes, I can modify the feed but I am in no mood to do that too. Why should I anyways? They give me story ideas today, and who knows what wisdom they will impart about me to me tomorrow.
Here’s a proclamation:
Microsoft’s My Feed is one of the smartest things on the internet.
Why?
Because it shows you a reflection of your current self. (Here’s a story idea: Will AI replace Mirrors?)
My Feed is full of AI news. At least, the first couple of stories are.
And guess what has been buzzing inside my head for the last two days?
Indeed.
and
AI!
The feed catches up on what I have searched and finds news on that subject. I searched for ‘best cities’ in the world half an hour ago now they have come up with ‘Americans rank the 11 worst cities…’
But it’s content with AI that rules (because I read them the most). Here are some of the titles:
- How AI is Transforming Music Creation in Web3
- Artificial Intelligence: 4 ways AI will reshape societies
- More ways to make money with ChatGPT
I want to conduct an experiment. I will choose a topic that I have never bothered about — a topic that is not trending and doesn’t exist on my feed — I want to then make a search on both Google and Bing.
Let’s see how long it will take for it to appear on my feed.
My topic is:
.
.
.
.
Let me think…
.
.
.
Let me check on my feed
.
.
.
Okay.
It is:
Nickelback!
I went to both Google and Bing and searched Nickelback. I then went to the news tab and stared at Nickelback news for five seconds. I have kept the tab open.
Now let me Ctrl N and check if Nickelback has appeared on My Feed.
No, it hasn’t appeared yet. (Not much of a mirror, eh?)
July 17th, 2023. It is 9:23 pm
I refreshed the feed three times.
Still no Nickelback.
Still lots of AI.
It is 9:25 pm
I have refreshed a couple of times more.
No Nickelback.
It is 9:27 pm
No
It is 9:28 pm
I have closed the feed window.
It is 9:29 pm
I have opened a new window. Still no Nickelback.
I refresh it once. No!
It is 9:30 pm
I have closed the window.
Now I will wait.
It is 9:32 pm
I Ctrl N. No Nickelback.
I refresh once.
No!
It is 9:45 pm
No!
It is 11:32 pm and still no Nickelback. Time to go to sleep.
July 18th, 2023. It’s 9:09 am.
Twelve hours have passed but still no Nickelback.
I guess two searches and a five-second stare are not enough for Feed to bring the topic to your eyes every time you open a new tab. (But the city news had popped up by this time. Does Edge hate Nickelback?)
So it’s time to make a change.
I will now open a new Bing and Google search window, search Nickelback and spend five minutes reading articles about them.
Let’s see what happens.
It’s 12:30 pm
In between my work, I have searched Nickelback.
It still doesn’t appear on my Bing Feed!
Now I will search again and read all articles. I have searched Nickelback on Bing and opened their website, Wikipedia page, and their news.
Let’s see what happens.
At this point, I need Nickelback on my Feed!
It’s July 28th, 2023. It’s 11:42 am.
Ten days have passed. I have neither searched Nickelback nor listened to any of their songs in this period.
But
finally:
It’s here!
An ad
Conclusion
Microsoft Edge’s Feed is not a mirror. It is more like a text reply from a crush. Almost thought nothing would ever appear.
It is slow-smart, too. I am not sure if they hate Nickelback.
Thank you for reading.
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