Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture

by Kyle Chayka

the culture disseminated through algorithmic feeds is either designed to produce a sensory void or to be flattened into the background of life, an insidious degradation of the status of art into something more like wallpaper. While personalized feeds create algorithmic anxiety, the only salve they provide is this form of ambient culture, which can feel personal without actually being so—if you don’t have to think too much about the art you’re consuming because it’s so bland, you don’t need to worry about if it truly represents you or not. Like a corporatized form of Buddhism, the implied answer to anxiety is to learn not to desire differentiation in the first place, to simply be satisfied with whatever is placed in front of you. The cultivation of taste is discouraged because taste is inefficient in terms of maximizing engagement. While the obstruction of taste and the tactic of corrupt personalization may feel like individual problems—users must work harder to identify what they truly like—it also quickly scales up into massive social issues.