Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture

Kyle Chayka's FILTERWORLD is a very well-researched and thoughtful book that helps the reader identify why the algorithmic filters we interact with each day feel so boring and uninspired. From the algorithms of “Filterworld,” managed by platforms like Instagram and TikTok, emerges a culture characterized by its ambient flatness. Creators are forced to play it safe to satisfy the interests of the feed. Reductive algorithms are gradually eroding our subjective sense of good taste.In a particularly strong chapter of the book, Chayka goes on an “algorithmic cleanse,” distancing himself from all sorts of algorithms on social media and other apps. After going through phases of withdrawal, he finds himself interacting more often with the physical world. Instead of passively consuming TikTok videos selected by the algorithm, he becomes a more conscious and intentional consumer of culture. He even starts listening to more independent DJs instead of Spotify!Ultimately, Chayka advocates for human curation, saying that it cannot be outsourced to algorithms. He proposes a spirit of intentional human sharing, as opposed to the Netflix recommendation engine. That idea is certainly sticking with me— Person-to-person recommendations are social and moral acts that should not be handed over to the machines.

This books tells people some very important things that they need to know. Others have said similar things, often better, but everybody comes at this from slightly different angles and the author provides an energetic survey of how we got here and what here looks like. I think it falters in the last sections, as it tries (repeatedly) to pull it all together, but let's face it, this is a daunting topic and A for effort. I was most touched by the discussion on curation and an active life of discovering and sharing culture - if the author got you to the point of agreeing that this has been taken from us (and he should have), I think he does us a great service by reminding us how wonderful it was, in often elegiac prose. I recommend the book. It didn't change my life, but it strengthened my resolve. May I also recommend Mediated (Thomas de Zengotita) and Voltaire's Bastards (John Ralston Saul) - towering.

Maybe should have been a bit shorter.

Explains why everything is so homogeneous and gentrified, but isn’t the most exciting read. Only good if you’re doing a book report. Very academic, not for me…

Perfect timing getting this book! It feels really important in today’s climate given how social media and the internet keep taking over our lives, how we see it and how we are perceived/perceive others. As a millennial, it really resonated with me and spoke to my relationship with the internet then and now. I’ll be gifting and recommending this book to my friends! Really great read.