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Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture
A history and investigation of a world ruled by algorithms, which determine the shape of culture itself.
From trendy restaurants to city grids, to TikTok and Netflix feeds the world round, algorithmic recommendations dictate our experiences and choices. The algorithm is present in the familiar neon signs and exposed brick of Internet cafes, be it in Nairobi or Portland, and the skeletal, modern furniture of Airbnbs in cities big and small. Over the last decade, this network of mathematically determined decisions has taken over, almost unnoticed—informing the songs we listen to, the friends with whom we stay in touch—as we’ve grown increasingly accustomed to our insipid new normal.
This ever-tightening web woven by algorithms is called “Filterworld.” Kyle Chayka shows us how online and offline spaces alike have been engineered for seamless consumption, becoming a source of pervasive anxiety in the process. Users of technology have been forced to contend with data-driven equations that try to anticipate their desires—and often get them wrong. What results is a state of docility that allows tech companies to curtail human experiences—human lives—for profit. But to have our tastes, behaviors, and emotions governed by computers, while convenient, does nothing short of call the very notion of free will into question.
In Filterworld, Chayka traces this creeping, machine-guided curation as it infiltrates the furthest reaches of our digital, physical, and psychological spaces. With algorithms increasingly influencing not just what culture we consume, but what culture is produced, urgent questions What happens when shareability supersedes messiness, innovation, and creativity—the qualities that make us human? What does it mean to make a choice when the options have been so carefully arranged for us? Is personal freedom possible on the Internet?
To the last question, Filterworld argues yes—but to escape Filterworld, and even transcend it, we must first understand it.
From trendy restaurants to city grids, to TikTok and Netflix feeds the world round, algorithmic recommendations dictate our experiences and choices. The algorithm is present in the familiar neon signs and exposed brick of Internet cafes, be it in Nairobi or Portland, and the skeletal, modern furniture of Airbnbs in cities big and small. Over the last decade, this network of mathematically determined decisions has taken over, almost unnoticed—informing the songs we listen to, the friends with whom we stay in touch—as we’ve grown increasingly accustomed to our insipid new normal.
This ever-tightening web woven by algorithms is called “Filterworld.” Kyle Chayka shows us how online and offline spaces alike have been engineered for seamless consumption, becoming a source of pervasive anxiety in the process. Users of technology have been forced to contend with data-driven equations that try to anticipate their desires—and often get them wrong. What results is a state of docility that allows tech companies to curtail human experiences—human lives—for profit. But to have our tastes, behaviors, and emotions governed by computers, while convenient, does nothing short of call the very notion of free will into question.
In Filterworld, Chayka traces this creeping, machine-guided curation as it infiltrates the furthest reaches of our digital, physical, and psychological spaces. With algorithms increasingly influencing not just what culture we consume, but what culture is produced, urgent questions What happens when shareability supersedes messiness, innovation, and creativity—the qualities that make us human? What does it mean to make a choice when the options have been so carefully arranged for us? Is personal freedom possible on the Internet?
To the last question, Filterworld argues yes—but to escape Filterworld, and even transcend it, we must first understand it.
290 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 16, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
January 17, 2024
This is a perfect pick for a book club. It’s a sprawling look at the impacts of algorithmic supremacy, both through technology and society, that take the reader for an introspective journey into dissecting our tastes, emotions, and inescapable presence on the internet
Read
January 31, 2024Brilliantly constructed and argued. This is a fascinating and terrifying dissection of the vapidity of culture ruled by algorithms. I loved how this centered on the necessary humanness of personal choice and taste, opposing passive consumption. A book that I’ve been looking for without exactly realizing it! If you’re reading this, you should read Filterworld.
Want to read
January 18, 2024This sounds very relevant to my new project, in which we are trying to curate the internet.
January 28, 2024
"Algorithms dictate the websites we find in Google Search results; the stories we see on our Facebook feeds; the songs that Spotify plays in never-ending streams; the people we see as potential matches on dating apps; the movies recommended by the Netflix home page; the personalized feed of videos presented by TikTok; the order of posts on Twitter and Instagram; the folders our emails are automatically sorted into; and the ads that follow us around the Internet. Algorithmic recommendations shape the vast majority of our experiences in digital spaces by considering our previous actions and selecting the pieces of content that will most suit our patterns of behavior. They are supposed to interpret and then show us what we want to see..."
Filterworld was a somewhat decent look into the topic, but I felt that the intro was the high water mark of the book. I was excited to start this one and see where the author would take the writing. Although the subject matter is an interesting one, I did not particularly enjoy the meat and potatoes of this book. More below.
Author Kyle Chayka is a contributing writer for The New Yorker covering technology and culture on the Internet. His work has also appeared in the New Republic, the New York Times Magazine, and Harper's, among other publications.
Kyle Chayka:
The author gets the writing here off on a good foot, with a very well-written intro that talks about the Mechanical Turk. Unfortunately, as mentioned above, I felt that this writing was the high point of the book. TBH; the rest of the book really dragged for me. It could be a subjective thing, as I am very particular about how engaging the books I read are. I felt that the book opened with a bang, and then meandered on somewhat monotonously for the rest of the duration.
He drops the quote at the start of this review in the intro, and it continues below:
In this quote, Chayka talks about the title of the book, and its thesis:
The all-knowing algorithm. If you have used any form of social media in the last ~5-8+ years, then the content you have been exposed to has been fed to you by an algorithm. The author drops this bit of writing:
Unfortunately, and further to what I mentioned above, I felt that the writing here got more tedious and long-winded as it went. There's a huge chunk of writing in here about how the author likes to go to hipster coffee cafes, and detailed descriptions of these cafes. I was becoming frustrated.
Also, for some reason, the book contains a bunch of irrelevant mindless leftist nonsense. There are derogatory mentions of "white men," "whiteness," and usage of other politically-charged leftist jargon like "marginalized groups."
I'm not quite sure WTF "whiteness" has to do with computer algorithms, or even why the author felt the need to include this type of crap in a book like this in the first place. Even more ironically, we have the author, who is a white man, complaining about white men. How fucking cringey and pathetic...
Sadly, this is a trend that seems to be increasing over time. You can rarely pick up a nonfiction book without reading about "smashing capitalism," the "patriarchy," "whiteness," or a litany of many other bits of tribal jargon that betray the author's ideological possession. Much like an evangelical Christian who never shuts up about Jesus, these people just can't help themselves. God, It's all so tiresome...
********************
I had high hopes for Filterworld. Unfortunately, it did not meet my expectations. I feel like the intro of the book provides ~90+% of its value.
The book was also way too long. The audio version I have clocks in just shy of 12 hours. At least 30% of the content here could have (or even should have) been edited out without any loss to the overall presentation.
I would not recommend it.
2 stars.
Filterworld was a somewhat decent look into the topic, but I felt that the intro was the high water mark of the book. I was excited to start this one and see where the author would take the writing. Although the subject matter is an interesting one, I did not particularly enjoy the meat and potatoes of this book. More below.
Author Kyle Chayka is a contributing writer for The New Yorker covering technology and culture on the Internet. His work has also appeared in the New Republic, the New York Times Magazine, and Harper's, among other publications.
Kyle Chayka:
The author gets the writing here off on a good foot, with a very well-written intro that talks about the Mechanical Turk. Unfortunately, as mentioned above, I felt that this writing was the high point of the book. TBH; the rest of the book really dragged for me. It could be a subjective thing, as I am very particular about how engaging the books I read are. I felt that the book opened with a bang, and then meandered on somewhat monotonously for the rest of the duration.
He drops the quote at the start of this review in the intro, and it continues below:
"...Today, we are constantly contending with algorithms of all kinds, each one attempting to guess what we are thinking of, seeking, and desiring before we may even be aware of the answers. When I write an email, my Gmail app predicts which words and phrases I am trying to type and fills them in for me, as if reading my mind. Spotify stocks its screen with the musicians and albums it predicts that I am likely to listen to, which I often end up selecting simply out of habit. When I unlock my phone, photos from the past I may want to see—labeled “memories,” as if they existed in my subconscious—are preloaded, as are suggestions for apps I may want to open and friends I may want to text. Instagram offers a mood board of what its algorithm perceives as my interests: top-down photos of food, architecture snapshots, looping clips of prestige television shows. TikTok serves me an inexplicable avalanche of videos of people retiling their showers, and I inexplicably keep watching them, compelled in spite of myself. Surely there is more to my identity as a consumer of culture?"
In this quote, Chayka talks about the title of the book, and its thesis:
"Filterworld, the title of this book, is my word for the vast, interlocking, and yet diffuse network of algorithms that influence our lives today, which has had a particularly dramatic impact on culture and the ways it is distributed and consumed. Though Filterworld has also changed politics, education, and interpersonal relationships, among many other facets of society, my focus is on culture. Whether visual art, music, film, literature, or choreography, algorithmic recommendations and the feeds that they populate mediate our relationship to culture, guiding our attention toward the things that fit best within the structures of digital platforms. The automated recommendations are filters that both sift what gets attention from what is ignored and subtly warp the appearance of these things, like a photo filter on Instagram, exaggerating some qualities and downplaying others. The cultural successes of Filterworld are obvious. They include phenomena like the countrified TikTok dance that propelled Lil Nas X’s 2018 song “Old Town Road” to global fame; the cliché design trends that plague Instagram, like minimalist interiors and the monotonous sans serif logos that fashion brands have adopted in recent years; and the rage-triggering deluge of meaningless Twitter controversies."
The all-knowing algorithm. If you have used any form of social media in the last ~5-8+ years, then the content you have been exposed to has been fed to you by an algorithm. The author drops this bit of writing:
"...In place of the human gatekeepers and curators of culture, the editors and DJs, we now have a set of algorithmic gatekeepers. While this shift has lowered many cultural barriers to entry, since anyone can make their work public online, it has also resulted in a kind of tyranny of real-time data.
Attention becomes the only metric by which culture is judged, and what gets attention is dictated by equations developed by Silicon Valley engineers. The outcome of such algorithmic gatekeeping is the pervasive flattening that has been happening across culture. By flatness I mean homogenization but also a reduction into simplicity: the least ambiguous, least disruptive, and perhaps least meaningful pieces of culture are promoted the most. Flatness is the lowest common denominator, an averageness that has never been the marker of humanity’s proudest cultural creations."
Unfortunately, and further to what I mentioned above, I felt that the writing here got more tedious and long-winded as it went. There's a huge chunk of writing in here about how the author likes to go to hipster coffee cafes, and detailed descriptions of these cafes. I was becoming frustrated.
Also, for some reason, the book contains a bunch of irrelevant mindless leftist nonsense. There are derogatory mentions of "white men," "whiteness," and usage of other politically-charged leftist jargon like "marginalized groups."
I'm not quite sure WTF "whiteness" has to do with computer algorithms, or even why the author felt the need to include this type of crap in a book like this in the first place. Even more ironically, we have the author, who is a white man, complaining about white men. How fucking cringey and pathetic...
Sadly, this is a trend that seems to be increasing over time. You can rarely pick up a nonfiction book without reading about "smashing capitalism," the "patriarchy," "whiteness," or a litany of many other bits of tribal jargon that betray the author's ideological possession. Much like an evangelical Christian who never shuts up about Jesus, these people just can't help themselves. God, It's all so tiresome...
********************
I had high hopes for Filterworld. Unfortunately, it did not meet my expectations. I feel like the intro of the book provides ~90+% of its value.
The book was also way too long. The audio version I have clocks in just shy of 12 hours. At least 30% of the content here could have (or even should have) been edited out without any loss to the overall presentation.
I would not recommend it.
2 stars.
February 1, 2024
4.5 stars. A deep, critical examination into how algorithms have influenced culture, in a way that feels very, very real. Will have you rethinking how you interact with the internet world and how it interacts with you.
January 20, 2024
Although I knew a lot about how algorithms shape what content we consume before reading, this book articulated a lot of the problems I'd been having with online content. It crystallized the reasons why I intensely dislike short-form video feeds, for example. It also explained for me why, say, all the gaming YouTubers play the same games, or all the BookTubers talk about the same books. The idea that we can resist A.I.-generated algorithms or change how the Internet works is rather utopian, in my opinion, but this book made me appreciate and understand things I'd done subconsciously before--like how I limit my social media use and avoid most apps. The approach was well-written and researched, providing some fascinating historical tidbits about the genesis of the way things are now. I found myself thinking a lot after reading, which is what you want after a good nonfiction read. I listened to the audiobook, which was also well narrated. Recommend, if you're at all interested in how social media & technology companies are warping our perception of reality.
January 23, 2024
ironically the act of writing & rating this book here is both equally for and against the spirit of the book, but it's such a banger I can't help but feel compelled to recommend it to all the pals - especially if you're a regular user of IG/Twitter/Youtube/TikTok
i've been off the worst of these platforms for several months now and it's vindicating to have someone articulate so thoughtfully many of the feelings i've been noticing (mainly in myself) as my brain adjusts to life without addictive algorithms
i've been off the worst of these platforms for several months now and it's vindicating to have someone articulate so thoughtfully many of the feelings i've been noticing (mainly in myself) as my brain adjusts to life without addictive algorithms
February 2, 2024
A right place, right time kind of book for me - also this is the longest book review I’ve ever written but I think it’s worth a least a skim :,)
I’d been feeling jaded about the internet and how much time I spent on it. This helped me understand why the algorithm was making me feel this way.
Nothing on these platforms are personal - they will corner you into specific interest categories which prevent users from identifying their own individual tastes. The algorithm will do this for you and it will do it with the shortest and most attention grabbing content. This prioritizes content that doesn’t require complex thinking or allow users the time to sit with the subject. It also propels the homogeneity of culture as creators (myself included) conform to the algorithm in order to make sure their posts perform well.
I found myself noticing other places the algorithm controlled my life. The spotify algorithm usually generated the music I listened to with their auto-playlists and radios. The netflix suggestions that always suggested me romcoms and reality tv. We’ve lost the ability to determine our own interests and connect with art outside of a recommendation system.
This is an issue because these algorithms are not completely unbiased. These platforms run by large tech companies which prioritize the content most likely to get you to stay on their app. Culture is being flattened by capitalism. Not often can we partake in culture/art without a mediating third-party app to dictate how we do so.
What I appreciated most about this book is that it made me realize how immersed I was in algorithm culture. I’ve been able to take a step back and truly seek content that is driven by my interests not a computer. This book does a good job of not being a complete debby downer about the algorithm, but emphasize the importance of responsible personal curation of your internet habits. The hope is that more people at least become more aware of the way algorithms rule our lives so we can make conscious decisions of where we spend our time.
Things I didn’t like so much about this book:
It was a slow start, felt more like a textbook
Went on a bit long, and I felt like points were repeated multiple times
The author is an op-ed journalist and at times this book felt more like a long-form article than a novel with a lot of anecdotal asides
I’d been feeling jaded about the internet and how much time I spent on it. This helped me understand why the algorithm was making me feel this way.
Nothing on these platforms are personal - they will corner you into specific interest categories which prevent users from identifying their own individual tastes. The algorithm will do this for you and it will do it with the shortest and most attention grabbing content. This prioritizes content that doesn’t require complex thinking or allow users the time to sit with the subject. It also propels the homogeneity of culture as creators (myself included) conform to the algorithm in order to make sure their posts perform well.
I found myself noticing other places the algorithm controlled my life. The spotify algorithm usually generated the music I listened to with their auto-playlists and radios. The netflix suggestions that always suggested me romcoms and reality tv. We’ve lost the ability to determine our own interests and connect with art outside of a recommendation system.
This is an issue because these algorithms are not completely unbiased. These platforms run by large tech companies which prioritize the content most likely to get you to stay on their app. Culture is being flattened by capitalism. Not often can we partake in culture/art without a mediating third-party app to dictate how we do so.
What I appreciated most about this book is that it made me realize how immersed I was in algorithm culture. I’ve been able to take a step back and truly seek content that is driven by my interests not a computer. This book does a good job of not being a complete debby downer about the algorithm, but emphasize the importance of responsible personal curation of your internet habits. The hope is that more people at least become more aware of the way algorithms rule our lives so we can make conscious decisions of where we spend our time.
Things I didn’t like so much about this book:
It was a slow start, felt more like a textbook
Went on a bit long, and I felt like points were repeated multiple times
The author is an op-ed journalist and at times this book felt more like a long-form article than a novel with a lot of anecdotal asides
February 3, 2024
I agree with other reviewers who mentioned that this book feels like multiple contradictory books in one (or, perhaps, three articles that should have just been written separately and edited down). I think that it's tempting to agree that culture is becoming something more homogenous when drawn into the Stanley cup craze on TikTok, but the author's arguments for homogeneity are underdeveloped and confusing at times. He dwells heavily on the "coffeeshop aesthetic" that many of us associate with hipster coffeeshops and questions how coffeeshops scattered all over have the same look and feel. While I think it seems like an interesting jumping off point on the surface, the answer is probably far more stupider-trends and marketing! Trends are nothing new, and they existed long before algorithms were 'telling' us what to like or do. I think the coffeeshop argument is less about algorithms leading to coffeeshops looking the same and more about stacking layers of many things (style, trends, paid marketing, etc) leading to a pervasive feeling of same-ness. The coffeeshop argument also kind of falls apart later in the book when the author talks about how much better indie bookshops are than Amazon. Aren't many of them plagued by the same homogeneity as coffeeshops? I think this book would have been far better as three different articles (or perhaps two different articles and a third opinion piece questioning if we are all becoming more boring and bemoaning how Spotify designs their app). I think the author is coming from a vulnerable place of anxiety and fear about what algorithms are doing to culture, but I really found myself internally screaming 'touch grass!' during sections like the Spotify redesign passage about 25% of the way through.
January 27, 2024
3.5 Rounded up
I was one of the first on Facebook. I remember it came out when I was in college and I remember vividly one of my friends telling me about it and telling me to sign up.
Then I remember telling lots of other friends to sign up.
I feel like I should have had a cut of Facebook's earnings (2. Fast forward 20 years (TWENTY!!!) and I'm still on Facebook but my social network of choice would be TikTok or Twitter. For me, this book felt like I was taking a trip down memory lane. I felt like I could have written an outline for this book based on my experiences the last 20 years but the author does a great job of providing detailed, interesting stories, discussing the history of social media. I didn't quite get the point of the book, I was waiting for him to prove something but everything | read was interesting and enjoyable.
Thank you to Doubleday for an advanced copy. Opinions are my own.
I was one of the first on Facebook. I remember it came out when I was in college and I remember vividly one of my friends telling me about it and telling me to sign up.
Then I remember telling lots of other friends to sign up.
I feel like I should have had a cut of Facebook's earnings (2. Fast forward 20 years (TWENTY!!!) and I'm still on Facebook but my social network of choice would be TikTok or Twitter. For me, this book felt like I was taking a trip down memory lane. I felt like I could have written an outline for this book based on my experiences the last 20 years but the author does a great job of providing detailed, interesting stories, discussing the history of social media. I didn't quite get the point of the book, I was waiting for him to prove something but everything | read was interesting and enjoyable.
Thank you to Doubleday for an advanced copy. Opinions are my own.
Read
January 24, 2024Gr8! I feel like all my cultural consumption, at present, revolves around anti algorithm conversation. I like that, but as someone who isn’t on social media a whole bunch, I feel it feeding into my already burgeoning resentment for modern technology.
I won’t stop using Spotify or many other streaming sites but I can promise myself to be more intentional with my cultural consumption. I still believe TikTok is a scourge on mankind but that was only reinforced by this book. Had to buy my own copy and will indeed read many times <3
I won’t stop using Spotify or many other streaming sites but I can promise myself to be more intentional with my cultural consumption. I still believe TikTok is a scourge on mankind but that was only reinforced by this book. Had to buy my own copy and will indeed read many times <3
February 4, 2024
The fact that this ends with Chayka essentially saying "imagine if you made a choice about the books/movies/TV/music you consume, you may actually grow some taste and a sense of self" is just amazing, no notes.
If you've ever wondered why everything sucks now, nothing inspires, and everyone seems to be watching/reading/listening to the same banal stuff, oh boyyyyy do I have a book that will make you hella depressed. Luckily, Chayka makes a compelling case for becoming our own curators, a rousing end to a book that did give me a mild panic attack.
If you've ever wondered why everything sucks now, nothing inspires, and everyone seems to be watching/reading/listening to the same banal stuff, oh boyyyyy do I have a book that will make you hella depressed. Luckily, Chayka makes a compelling case for becoming our own curators, a rousing end to a book that did give me a mild panic attack.
December 28, 2023
**Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC**
As a relatively computer-dumb person who just accepts all terms and conditions, this was a really readable history that was informative in a nice way. It's definitely something I didin't want to know about but i'm glad I finally read about how it all works and the history and use of algorithms. It feels academic, but at the same time is digeestable, which to me is the greatest compliment I can give.
As a relatively computer-dumb person who just accepts all terms and conditions, this was a really readable history that was informative in a nice way. It's definitely something I didin't want to know about but i'm glad I finally read about how it all works and the history and use of algorithms. It feels academic, but at the same time is digeestable, which to me is the greatest compliment I can give.
Read
January 28, 2024How can I compose a review without coming across as antiquated and without beginning with "Back in my day, the internet landscape was different..."?
This book is pretty packed, focusing on various social media platforms and how they shape our modern culture. It's got loads of anecdotes and examples, so much so that I found myself breezing through some of them (especially the ones that didn't click with my millennial sensibility, hah). Some of the examples feels like personal attack, the one with "generic coffee shops" for example, ouch. I, too, was pretty amazed when I found Weekenders coffee hiding in the parking lot (what a gem, I thought) and so I still have that one photo of cappuccino on the counter. According to my memory, they do make good coffee, but that might be (ironically) overshadowed by the aesthetics of the coffee shop itself.
Overall the book offers a standpoint for a current and (very!) relevant topic. I think this book resonates with me because:
1. I was a heavy user of instagram at one point. At first I was posting for fun, but then it gets exhausting´ with each updated features. Instagram tried to be Snapchat, BeReal or Tiktok - each time it generates more contents, but it's always the same.
2. I don’t really enjoy short contents, though I can see why it’s addictive. I don’t believe in this isolated convenience of pushing a button and you get served everything. You have to work for it (and not by just scrolling).
3. It’s important to contextualize of what you consume.
4. When things are too predetermined or set in a template, audience are alienated, because they feel no agency.
5. Having an instagram arranged as a mood board, though aesthetically pleasing, doesn’t make you a curator (guilty as charged!)
6. Someone had to care enough to tell me what they liked, and I had to care enough to trust them and give it a fair try. Such cultural recommendations—communicating approval—are social and moral acts. We tell each other that we like things the same way that bees perform dances to pass on the location of a particularly fruitful flower. The very act brings us together.
7. It’s more sustainable and more respectful of culture, treating it as something important rather than ephemeral, merely fodder for brief attention spans.
The way I consume social media has shifted in the last 2 years. I now seek to consume at a slower rate by subscribing to platforms that are less “AI-generated”. Lately, I've been enjoying MUBI and Substack, especially Substack - I like the idea of receiving newsletters, which reminds me of the blogging era. It’s finite, it’s personal, and it gives me a sense of communities of consumption as a form of mutual learning.
In the end, I understand it’s a trade-off between convenience and privacy (in the form of giving away your personal data). Mindfully choosing what to consume and how we consume it, is the short answer to a rather complicated problem. But let me just quote the anthropologist David Graeber once again: "The ultimate, hidden truth of the world is that it is something that we make, and could just as easily make differently. "
And yes, I’m thankful for the GDPR law in Europe, I do.
This book is pretty packed, focusing on various social media platforms and how they shape our modern culture. It's got loads of anecdotes and examples, so much so that I found myself breezing through some of them (especially the ones that didn't click with my millennial sensibility, hah). Some of the examples feels like personal attack, the one with "generic coffee shops" for example, ouch. I, too, was pretty amazed when I found Weekenders coffee hiding in the parking lot (what a gem, I thought) and so I still have that one photo of cappuccino on the counter. According to my memory, they do make good coffee, but that might be (ironically) overshadowed by the aesthetics of the coffee shop itself.
Overall the book offers a standpoint for a current and (very!) relevant topic. I think this book resonates with me because:
1. I was a heavy user of instagram at one point. At first I was posting for fun, but then it gets exhausting´ with each updated features. Instagram tried to be Snapchat, BeReal or Tiktok - each time it generates more contents, but it's always the same.
2. I don’t really enjoy short contents, though I can see why it’s addictive. I don’t believe in this isolated convenience of pushing a button and you get served everything. You have to work for it (and not by just scrolling).
3. It’s important to contextualize of what you consume.
4. When things are too predetermined or set in a template, audience are alienated, because they feel no agency.
5. Having an instagram arranged as a mood board, though aesthetically pleasing, doesn’t make you a curator (guilty as charged!)
6. Someone had to care enough to tell me what they liked, and I had to care enough to trust them and give it a fair try. Such cultural recommendations—communicating approval—are social and moral acts. We tell each other that we like things the same way that bees perform dances to pass on the location of a particularly fruitful flower. The very act brings us together.
7. It’s more sustainable and more respectful of culture, treating it as something important rather than ephemeral, merely fodder for brief attention spans.
The way I consume social media has shifted in the last 2 years. I now seek to consume at a slower rate by subscribing to platforms that are less “AI-generated”. Lately, I've been enjoying MUBI and Substack, especially Substack - I like the idea of receiving newsletters, which reminds me of the blogging era. It’s finite, it’s personal, and it gives me a sense of communities of consumption as a form of mutual learning.
In the end, I understand it’s a trade-off between convenience and privacy (in the form of giving away your personal data). Mindfully choosing what to consume and how we consume it, is the short answer to a rather complicated problem. But let me just quote the anthropologist David Graeber once again: "The ultimate, hidden truth of the world is that it is something that we make, and could just as easily make differently. "
And yes, I’m thankful for the GDPR law in Europe, I do.
January 18, 2024
Thank you #partner @doubleday for sending an early copy of this book and coordinating with me to host an author interview. I'll link it here when it's posted.
“Social media has quantified culture into a banal set of metrics. The net effect is a homogenization as creators all chase the same incentives, copying whatever formula works best at any given moment.”
Wow.
If you read one nonfiction book this year, make it this one! You may change the way you interact and utilize your time online.
Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture by Kyle Chayka looks at how algorithms run our lives and strip us of our free will, often without us even knowing it. They dictate our experiences + choices and anticipate our desires, often incorrectly. This machine guided filtration process effects our psychological spaces as well as our physical and digital ones.
“At no point were decisions made to make {these platforms} a better place for people creating the content. They were purely made by the growth team to figure out how they could expand.”
This book basically confirmed to me all the things I knew deep in my bones - that Facebook is the devil, IG was ruined by Mark Z, and social media doesn’t give two cents about my health and well being.
“Any joy in new forms of expression are ruthlessly exploited in the form of increased advertising.”
This book asks tough questions and will make you think about your own use of social media and the ways you may consume out of convenience rather than intension. But it also provides hope. He uses the analogy of the slow food movement bringing back local farmers and the rise of home gardens, as an example of how make a stand and create change with social media.
“To fight the generic, seek the specific. Form your own tastes with thought, intention and care.” Become your OWN curator and take responsibility for the content you are consuming. Intentionally seek out more of what you want to see.
The algorithm may bury this post because it’s a non fiction book, but I’m here to shout if from the rooftops and do my part to break the norm.
AUTHOR CHAT: I’ll be hosting a live author chat with @kylechayka in early February to discuss this book and his findings in detail. Stay tuned for more details.
Til then, pick up this book - preferably at your local bookstore.
#filterworld #kylechayka #doubleday #doubledayinfluencer #algorithms #socialmedia
“Social media has quantified culture into a banal set of metrics. The net effect is a homogenization as creators all chase the same incentives, copying whatever formula works best at any given moment.”
Wow.
If you read one nonfiction book this year, make it this one! You may change the way you interact and utilize your time online.
Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture by Kyle Chayka looks at how algorithms run our lives and strip us of our free will, often without us even knowing it. They dictate our experiences + choices and anticipate our desires, often incorrectly. This machine guided filtration process effects our psychological spaces as well as our physical and digital ones.
“At no point were decisions made to make {these platforms} a better place for people creating the content. They were purely made by the growth team to figure out how they could expand.”
This book basically confirmed to me all the things I knew deep in my bones - that Facebook is the devil, IG was ruined by Mark Z, and social media doesn’t give two cents about my health and well being.
“Any joy in new forms of expression are ruthlessly exploited in the form of increased advertising.”
This book asks tough questions and will make you think about your own use of social media and the ways you may consume out of convenience rather than intension. But it also provides hope. He uses the analogy of the slow food movement bringing back local farmers and the rise of home gardens, as an example of how make a stand and create change with social media.
“To fight the generic, seek the specific. Form your own tastes with thought, intention and care.” Become your OWN curator and take responsibility for the content you are consuming. Intentionally seek out more of what you want to see.
The algorithm may bury this post because it’s a non fiction book, but I’m here to shout if from the rooftops and do my part to break the norm.
AUTHOR CHAT: I’ll be hosting a live author chat with @kylechayka in early February to discuss this book and his findings in detail. Stay tuned for more details.
Til then, pick up this book - preferably at your local bookstore.
#filterworld #kylechayka #doubleday #doubledayinfluencer #algorithms #socialmedia
January 24, 2024
“Filterworld and its slick sameness can induce a breathtaking, near-debilitating sense of anxiety. The sameness feels inescapable, alienating even as it is marketed as desirable.”
“On the other side of our algorithmic anxiety is a state of numbness. The dopamine rushes become inadequate, the noise and speed of the feeds overwhelming. Our natural reaction is to seek out culture that embraces nothingness, that blankets and soothes rather than challenges or surprises, as powerful artwork is meant to do. Our capacity to be moved, or even to be interested and curious, is depleted.”
I could not put this book down. Chayka brilliantly describes the erosion of culture and our abilities to form personal tastes and have personal, authentic experiences outside of the purview of the algorithms that run nearly every aspect of our lives. He describes how algorithms have reduced our culture to the least common denominator of human interests presenting a product to consume that is passive, average, and most importantly, not meaningful while we are addicted (by intentional design) to the act of passively, numbly consuming it.
Engaging in culture used to require effort and active participation. Chayka suggests that perhaps for culture to not feel so bland and uninspiring, we should convert taste back to something personally curated by humans rather than reducing it to mindless, meaningless consumerism. We all have a choice in how we participate despite the fact that algorithms are here to stay in our society.
This is a must read. 5/5
“On the other side of our algorithmic anxiety is a state of numbness. The dopamine rushes become inadequate, the noise and speed of the feeds overwhelming. Our natural reaction is to seek out culture that embraces nothingness, that blankets and soothes rather than challenges or surprises, as powerful artwork is meant to do. Our capacity to be moved, or even to be interested and curious, is depleted.”
I could not put this book down. Chayka brilliantly describes the erosion of culture and our abilities to form personal tastes and have personal, authentic experiences outside of the purview of the algorithms that run nearly every aspect of our lives. He describes how algorithms have reduced our culture to the least common denominator of human interests presenting a product to consume that is passive, average, and most importantly, not meaningful while we are addicted (by intentional design) to the act of passively, numbly consuming it.
Engaging in culture used to require effort and active participation. Chayka suggests that perhaps for culture to not feel so bland and uninspiring, we should convert taste back to something personally curated by humans rather than reducing it to mindless, meaningless consumerism. We all have a choice in how we participate despite the fact that algorithms are here to stay in our society.
This is a must read. 5/5
January 30, 2024
In many ways this feels like a must-read, but the longer it went on, the more I thought the author undermined his own arguments. His descriptive passages about the progression of various social media platforms was spot-on, but his suggestions for how to escape "Filterworld" often seemed kind of banal (as if downloading Bandcamp and The Criterion Channel are all it takes to appreciate art again). I wished he had leaned into ways to use these algorithms to our advantage, rather than simply wishing things would go back to how they were in the past. While he does briefly acknowledge how nostalgia plays a factor, but never really explains why or how things in the past were better (just that he has fond memories of certain things he found before algorithms) and this failure to engage honestly with the past is probably Filterworld's biggest weakness.
For example, he goes on quite a bit about similarly styled cafes but never gives any convincing explanation for why this is bad, or how things were better before cafes started to look the same? It just seemed to me like a person spending too much time in cafes and getting bored by the experience. Similarly, he describes the rise of City Pop via algorithmic suggestions but struggles to make any sort of persuasive arguments against it? In the end, this book seems like it tries to tackle too much, yet I can still absolutely recommend it as a starting point for a much bigger conversation.
For example, he goes on quite a bit about similarly styled cafes but never gives any convincing explanation for why this is bad, or how things were better before cafes started to look the same? It just seemed to me like a person spending too much time in cafes and getting bored by the experience. Similarly, he describes the rise of City Pop via algorithmic suggestions but struggles to make any sort of persuasive arguments against it? In the end, this book seems like it tries to tackle too much, yet I can still absolutely recommend it as a starting point for a much bigger conversation.
January 22, 2024
Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture
Riveting. I couldn't put it down. This book generously equips readers with a vocabulary to name some of the pervasive but usually unacknowledged realities that shape our digital world (i.e., algo speak, algorithmic anxiety, algorithmic normalization). It also offers a set of proposals to help make the internet fun again (i.e., intentionality, human curation of cultural objects, and regulation). I suspect it has something to offer to everyone: from those who are casually interested in exploring aspects of the relationship between technology and culture to those who sometimes, if rarely, think about the change from chronologically organized to algorithmic social media newsfeeds to those who read tech columns regularly.
Some readers might find that the book itself performs the function of what it seems to be calling for: it serves as a companion and guide for the brave new world of algorithmic culture.
Riveting. I couldn't put it down. This book generously equips readers with a vocabulary to name some of the pervasive but usually unacknowledged realities that shape our digital world (i.e., algo speak, algorithmic anxiety, algorithmic normalization). It also offers a set of proposals to help make the internet fun again (i.e., intentionality, human curation of cultural objects, and regulation). I suspect it has something to offer to everyone: from those who are casually interested in exploring aspects of the relationship between technology and culture to those who sometimes, if rarely, think about the change from chronologically organized to algorithmic social media newsfeeds to those who read tech columns regularly.
Some readers might find that the book itself performs the function of what it seems to be calling for: it serves as a companion and guide for the brave new world of algorithmic culture.
January 29, 2024
This is one of those books that was worth reading because it provoked thought and disagreement. On the overall premise that algorithmic feeds are doing bad things to art and communication, it’s easy to agree. But the author was so focused on the idea that “flattening” access to art and culture is inherently bad that he didn’t really give a satisfying reason why. He also concluded that algorithmic feeds will eventually peter out, but didn’t really address the possibility that algorithms could become smarter/more personalized, or that ad-supported content f could be replaced with other formats as a potential solution for the issues algorithmic feeds cause.
I also found unconvincing the references to certain cultural touch points the author mentions as examples of things he wouldn’t have found through feeds. In several cases, he found something through a feed and further pursued it to satisfaction. In others, he complains about the sameness of aesthetics caused by feeds, but doesn’t really address that he’s also sought out those things as shorthand for something he does in fact enjoy.
Overall, a worthy read. Thought provoking but not without flaws.
I also found unconvincing the references to certain cultural touch points the author mentions as examples of things he wouldn’t have found through feeds. In several cases, he found something through a feed and further pursued it to satisfaction. In others, he complains about the sameness of aesthetics caused by feeds, but doesn’t really address that he’s also sought out those things as shorthand for something he does in fact enjoy.
Overall, a worthy read. Thought provoking but not without flaws.
February 1, 2024
Having grown up right on the cusp of a childhood before social media existed and my teenage years during the early days (MySpace) it was interesting reading this from both perspectives. Especially interesting were the ways in which people's worlds in a way have become smaller despite having a world of information at our fingertips. Because our feeds and timelines are so narrowly focused based on what they think we'll like/want/click on, the algorithms really do flatten our experiences. The best example was the promotion of books and art, and how things can go viral unexpectedly and quickly, leaving stores/sellers unable to cope with the sudden demand. Or the example of the rise of "influencers" who don't actually create anything, and generally don't have anything to add to the cultural landscape other than a shallow culture of consumption and amassing followers and likes. The book's main point is a cautionary tale about being mindful of how you are influenced to make certain choices and to think critically about your online world which is incredibly filtered and narrow thanks to algorithms putting us all into echo chambers of our own making.
January 18, 2024
Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture by Kyla Chayka packed a lot of information into 280 pages. So much information, that I found I needed to take breaks to take in and process it. Having been born in the mid-80s, making me a Millennial, I feel like I have a strong grasp on society before and after the internet and before and after social media. The irony of being a bookstagrammer and agreeing with a lot of the concerns Chayka brought up is not lost on me. Especially in the United States political climate, we are being ruled by forces far beyond what most people even concede is possible and yet algorithms shape nearly every aspect of our lives.
Filterworld is a huge punch in the gut to listen to the warning sirens of where we are headed as people, as a society, and as a planet. Thoroughly researched and laid out in an organized fashion, Filterworld is a must read in 2024!
Thank you Doubleday Books for the gifted ARC and Penguin Audio for the gifted ALC.
Filterworld is a huge punch in the gut to listen to the warning sirens of where we are headed as people, as a society, and as a planet. Thoroughly researched and laid out in an organized fashion, Filterworld is a must read in 2024!
Thank you Doubleday Books for the gifted ARC and Penguin Audio for the gifted ALC.
February 1, 2024
A really interesting and well articulated angle on the much-covered topic of how the internet is changing us, for better or (mostly) worse, on a societal and personal level. I actually liked the sort of “jaded and disappointed aging hipster” tone of the book, since most tech-wary literature ends up with a major doomer vibe. This dude just seems annoyed that art and music and culture are kind of boring and predictable now, which I totally relate with and enjoyed exploring.
Having said that, he does tend to go on tangents and give lengthy anecdotes that don’t really do much to bolster his points and feel like they’re just there to show how cool he is and how qualified he is to talk about aesthetic taste. It could probably lose like 50 pages without losing anything really crucial.
Overall, though, it’s well done, well researched, thought provoking, and definitely worth a read. It made me delete tiktok and instagram again.
4.2/5 hiroshi sato do go hard
Having said that, he does tend to go on tangents and give lengthy anecdotes that don’t really do much to bolster his points and feel like they’re just there to show how cool he is and how qualified he is to talk about aesthetic taste. It could probably lose like 50 pages without losing anything really crucial.
Overall, though, it’s well done, well researched, thought provoking, and definitely worth a read. It made me delete tiktok and instagram again.
4.2/5 hiroshi sato do go hard
October 19, 2023
Filterworld is a somewhat meandering exploration of the author’s conflicted relationship with algorithmic culture. He is, by his own admission, a frequent user and fan of recommendation algorithms — as exemplified in an affinity for bland Instagram-aesthetic cafes and Airbnbs — but is also deeply concerned about the effects these algorithms have. The organization of the book is a little scattershot, but following the author’s view on curation, we’re exposed to the subjects he wants to talk about in the order he wishes to talk about them. This is a well-written, interesting synthesis of a number of different aspects of the impact of algorithms on culture.
My thanks to Doubleday and NetGalley for providing an advanced reader copy.
My thanks to Doubleday and NetGalley for providing an advanced reader copy.
Read
January 16, 2024𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: 𝐅𝐢𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝: 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐀𝐥𝐠𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐦𝐬 𝐅𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐂𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫: 𝐊𝐲𝐥𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐲𝐤𝐚
𝐏𝐮𝐛 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: 𝐉𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝟏𝟔, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒
Thank you #partner Doubleday Books for providing me with a #gifted copy of Filterworld!
Filterworld is an informative look at how algorithms impact our lives each and every day. I found this book to be so interesting and was really shocked by how much of our lives are influenced by technology. I admit, this is not the type of book I would usually pick up, but I’m really glad I did because I think I learned a lot and also made me reflect more on technology use and my own personal online presence. Also, as someone who is not super tech savvy, I found the book easy to navigate and understand!
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫: 𝐊𝐲𝐥𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐲𝐤𝐚
𝐏𝐮𝐛 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: 𝐉𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝟏𝟔, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒
Thank you #partner Doubleday Books for providing me with a #gifted copy of Filterworld!
Filterworld is an informative look at how algorithms impact our lives each and every day. I found this book to be so interesting and was really shocked by how much of our lives are influenced by technology. I admit, this is not the type of book I would usually pick up, but I’m really glad I did because I think I learned a lot and also made me reflect more on technology use and my own personal online presence. Also, as someone who is not super tech savvy, I found the book easy to navigate and understand!
February 1, 2024
Good, but wished it were better. A lot of the background about the internet and algorithms isn't needed and could have been used to grapple with nuances in his argument. Yes, the dominance of algorithms can create a culture of sameness and homogeneity, but is today's culture worse than before? It is not clear which periods we are comparing.
The internet and social media have led to an explosion of new content, all types of content, and allowed niche communities to connect. Algorithms can facilitate this, so for me the question is rather than trying to escape them, how can we use them for good; how can people use algorithms to better curate their lives? The book touches on these questions, but I wanted more.
The internet and social media have led to an explosion of new content, all types of content, and allowed niche communities to connect. Algorithms can facilitate this, so for me the question is rather than trying to escape them, how can we use them for good; how can people use algorithms to better curate their lives? The book touches on these questions, but I wanted more.
January 5, 2024
More informative and impressive than I imagined. Chayka gives excellent examples to illustrate his points and there is a lot of information that will make the reader think "wow.... I never knew that but it makes total sense." It's an eye opener about our current world.
I will admit that I skimmed some of it but even with picking and choosing I found it to be a very necessary read for our world today. Extra points for making a difficult topic readable! Highly recommended!
Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book. It's an eye opener!
I will admit that I skimmed some of it but even with picking and choosing I found it to be a very necessary read for our world today. Extra points for making a difficult topic readable! Highly recommended!
Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book. It's an eye opener!
January 21, 2024
It tries to be too many books in one
This is more like a 3 in 1 books. The author talks in the beginning at length about technology, social media and algorithms.
Then he transitions to talk about concepts of culture and art. And it ends talking about his own experience (and at times contradicting himself and his opinions).
Overall it feels like the book lacks focus and it feels like an overly and unnecessary long read.
This is more like a 3 in 1 books. The author talks in the beginning at length about technology, social media and algorithms.
Then he transitions to talk about concepts of culture and art. And it ends talking about his own experience (and at times contradicting himself and his opinions).
Overall it feels like the book lacks focus and it feels like an overly and unnecessary long read.
January 19, 2024
As a person who has worked in the deep mines of the internet for the past 15 years, Kyle's book really spoke to me.
The algorithm rules all, and that rule isn't all it's cracked up to be.
Filterworld is a great look at how all of our lives are being both condensed and dispersed because of the algorithmic whims of our online lives... and there's just no escaping it.
The algorithm rules all, and that rule isn't all it's cracked up to be.
Filterworld is a great look at how all of our lives are being both condensed and dispersed because of the algorithmic whims of our online lives... and there's just no escaping it.
January 20, 2024
I discovered this book through the NYT’s The Ezra Klein Show podcast. As a high school English teacher with an online school, I have been trying to be more intentional in my relationship with technology. The writer fully articulates a lot of what I have been thinking about but was unable to properly express.
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