01/18/2024

How Social Media Algorithms 'Flatten' our Culture

They make countless decision for us

If you opened Facebook, Twitter or Instagram about a decade ago, you'd likely see posts from friends and family, in chronological order. Nowadays, users are hit with a barrage of content curated by an algorithm. Passionate about plants? Sports? Cats? Politics? That's what you're going to see.

"[There] are equations that measure what you're doing, surveil the data of all the users on these platforms and then try to predict what each person is most likely [with which] to engage," New Yorker writer Kyle Chayka said. "So, rather than having this neat, ordered feed, you have this feed that's constantly trying to guess what you're going to click on, what you're going to read, what you're going to watch or listen to."

In his new book, Filterworld, Chayka examines the algorithmic recommendations that dictate everything from the music, news and movies we consume, to the foods we eat and the places we go. He argues that all this machine-guided curation has made us docile consumers and flattened our likes and tastes.

Please select this link to read the complete article from NPR.