Doing It Right with Pandora Sykes

How tech flattened personal taste, with Kyle Chayka

Apr 30, 2024

Kyle Chayka, a staff writer at The New Yorker and author of Filterworld, discusses how technology and algorithms shape our tastes in culture from fashion to travel. They explore decision fatigue, surveillance capitalism, dumb phones, and breaking free from algorithms to rediscover genuine preferences.

42:52

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Episode guests

Kyle Chayka

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Quick takeaways

Algorithms on platforms like Instagram lead to a homogenization of personal tastes in fashion, music, and more.

The paradox of choice and decision fatigue from algorithm-driven feeds limit meaningful engagement and cultural exploration.

Deep dives

Impact of Algorithms on Taste Homogenization

Algorithms in recommendation systems have flattened and homogenized personal tastes across various aspects of culture like music, TV, movies, coffee shops. The podcast explores how homogenization of taste is driven by algorithmic recommendations on platforms like Instagram, creating a globalized coffee shop experience recognized for its generic qualities. The discussion delves into how individuals unknowingly replicate popular trends, influenced by platforms like Instagram.

Introduction

2min

Exploring the Impact of Algorithms on Taste

2min

Exploring the Influence of Soho House and Design Trends in Hospitality

2min

Exploring the Phenomenon of Mediocre Popularity in Culture

2min

The Dangers of Passive Entertainment Consumption

14min

Navigating Digital Surveillance and Algorithmic Influence

10min

Exploring the Influence of Hormones on Personal Taste and Expression

2min

Navigating Algorithmic Marketing and Content Consumption

9min

The homogenisation of popular culture is something I’ve been thinking about for a long time. In my 2020 book, How Do We Know We’re Doing It Right? (which spawned this very podcast), I wrote an essay called Get The Look - inspired by a wildly successful Zara polkadot dress - about how internet culture is encouraging young women to dress as facsimiles of one other.

So I was really excited to talk to Kyle Chayka, a staff writer at The New Yorker and the author of a book Filterworld, about how technology - and more specifically, the algorithm - has come to shape what we watch, listen to, eat, dress and even how we travel.

In this episode, we discuss the paradox of choice, decision fatigue, surveillance capitalism, dumb phones and how to break free of ‘the algo’ in order to re-learn what you actually like.

Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture by Kyle Chayka

Read Kyle’s writing on tech and social media for The New Yorker here.

Get in touch at doingitrightpod@gmail.com

Presented by Pandora Sykes

Sound by Kelsey Bennett

Co-production by Pandora Sykes and Kelsey Bennett