Filterworld
How Algorithms Flattened Culture
Kyle Chayka
- **A
- MOST
- ANTICIPATED
- BOOK
- •
- From
- New
- Yorker
- staff
- writer
- and
- author
- of
- The
- Longing
- for
- Less
- Kyle
- Chayka
- comes
- a
- timely
- history
- and
- investigation
- of
- a
- world
- ruled
- by
- algorithms,
- which
- determine
- the
- shape
- of
- culture
- itself."[Filterworld]
- is
- about
- how
- algorithms
- changed
- culture…[Chayka
- asks]
- what
- is
- taste?
- What
- is
- a
- sense
- of
- aesthetics?
- And
- what
- happens
- to
- it
- when
- it
- collides
- with
- the
- homogenizing
- digital
- reality
- in
- which
- we
- now
- live."—Ezra
- Klein**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
- arise:
- 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.
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