a16z co-founder: Digital platforms weaken academic depth by confusing academic works with shallow popular content through Algorithm mixing Depth.

CoinWorld news, on January 9th, Marc Andreessen, a venture capitalist, co-founder of a16z, and a well-known Silicon Valley investor, published a long article on social media, criticizing digital platforms for using Algorithm to place academic work and shallow popular content on the same level, resulting in the weakening of academic Depth. Using ‘On Democracy in America’ and popular bestsellers as examples, he pointed out that the former provides profound insights into the essence of democracy after years of research and observation, while the latter superficially covers a wide range of topics without substantive analysis. He expressed indignation at the platform presenting these contents equally, believing that it is a form of ‘leveling’ of academic and intellectual achievements, making true academic achievements no different from fast food knowledge. Andreessen also ridiculed the platform’s ‘preview’ feature, believing that this design further drops readers’ interest in Depth reading. He called for attention to academic standards and to avoid losing the ability to discern knowledge due to Algorithm recommendations.