Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture

by Kyle Chayka

Filterworld consists of one fundamental, unavoidable reality: never in human history have so many people experienced the same things, the same pieces of content disseminated instantly through the feeds, to our individual screens. Every consequence flows from that fact.

the force of technology shaping culture has been happening forever, and that force is neutral, not inherently negative.

The anthropologist David Graeber once wrote: “The ultimate, hidden truth of the world is that it is something that we make, and could just as easily make differently.” The same is true of the Internet.

There is no pure form of culture that happens outside of technological influence, nor is there a singular best way to consume culture. We cannot just rid ourselves of algorithmic influence, even if we wanted to, since the technology has already inexorably shaped our era. But the first step of escaping the algorithms’ grip is recognizing it.

Eventually Filterworld itself, with its set of entrenched styles, will prove to be a finite phase of culture, precisely because it will run out of fuel and run aground on its own self-referentiality. Something new is on the horizon; whether it is a flood of even more artificial content generated by artificial intelligence machines or a renaissance for human self-expression depends on our choices. As Benjamin wrote: “Every epoch, in fact, not only dreams the one to follow but, in dreaming, precipitates its awakening. It bears its end within itself.”