I have an algorithm for that!…actually an open architecture for algorithms.

You are absolutely right that users should control their filters. Filtering and social networks based on social graphs are a service to users. They started out that way, but took a wrong turn (the “original sin” of the ad model). They should be regulated to serve users, not advertisers and platform ad revenues.

I have been promoting that kind of architecture for years, most recently in Regulating our Platforms — A Deeper Vision, which reviews and expands on some of the best think tank analyses, and has been shared with their authors. More detail on how such a system of user-controlled algorithms could work are in The Augmented Wisdom of Crowds: Rate the Raters and Weight the Ratings and Architecting Our Platforms to Better Serve Us — Augmenting and Modularizing the Algorithm.

Such an open architecture also solves the likely problem that most users will be too lazy to tune their algorithms well by themselves. With an open market of pre-configured — but still customizable — filtering algorithm services, users can select from the curation services they desire, and modify and combine them as they wish. A model for this is financial market data, where traders can apply pre-configured data feed filters, and combine and modify them as they wish.