How do data and machine-learning powered algorithms work to control newsfeeds and spread stories? How much of that is automated, how much should you be able to understand and control, and where is it all headed? LinkedIn has answers.

Recently LinkedIn revamped its newsfeed and rolled out a new feature called Trending Storylines. Coupled with the acquisition by Microsoft, this is a move with far-reaching implications.

Social media and their newsfeeds have come to play a key role in our lives. To a large extent, they shape our perceptions, the way we get our information and connect with each other and the world at large. LinkedIn is a professional network, but its size and ambition mean that its newsfeed can be hugely important in its own way.

Leveraging data to offer its users a relevant experience is at the core of LinkedIn’s operation. As Igor Perisic, LinkedIn’s CDO, VP of Engineering and head of machine learning (ML) puts it, “machine learning is like oxygen for LinkedIn’s organism.”

Apparently though for LinkedIn what has been said about love also applies to ML: you get too much you get too high, not enough and you’re gonna die. So taking a balanced and pragmatic approach by keeping the human in the loop is key.

Read the full article on ZDNet