Algorithmic Recommender Systems: Mitigating Information Overload and Preserving Spontaneous Freedom.

Despite their ethical challenges, recommender systems (RS) are widely endorsed as a necessary solution to the problem of information overload. After clarifying how the harmful effects of information overload can be characterized in distinct ways, I explore the often overlooked potential benefits of abundant online spaces. I argue that these spaces afford valuable opportunities to experience spontaneous freedom. I then put forth a more comprehensive evaluation of the role RS should assume in algorithmically structuring the online space. This evaluation aims to reconcile the dual objectives of mitigating the harms of information overload and preserving opportunities to experience spontaneous freedom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]