Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture

by Kyle Chayka

I keep being shown it. This is ruining my life.” Not only does the feed try to guess what you like, it may not understand when your preferences move on or evolve. Algorithmic anxiety is fueled in part by the scourge of targeted online advertising, which uses the same kind of algorithms as the feeds. Your engagement is tracked by digital surveillance, and then you are served ads for products that match what you engage with, from brands that pay for your attention. Since ads are the primary way that many digital platforms and online publications make money, they are everywhere, interrupting articles, popping up with autoplay videos. Unlike a television commercial or a print magazine ad, they are personalized, and reiterate subjects you might prefer to ignore—because so many publishers sell their ads through the same software, like Google’s AdSense, the same ads might appear on every website.