Curation is the caretaking of culture 🧿 Kyle Chayka, The New Yorker
Aug 15, 2023
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Journalist Kyle Chayka discusses the impact of algorithms on culture and how they are flattening our experiences. He explores ways to detox from algorithms, the value of human curators, the de-influencing trend, and the impact of generative AI. The podcast also explores the unique experiences offered by physical stores and the history of algorithmic feeds. Chayka shares his recommendations in books, furniture, music, and cooking.
Algorithmic feeds on digital platforms lead to a homogeneity of tastes and aesthetics, limiting exposure to diverse cultural experiences.
To counteract the negative effects of algorithmic feeds, individuals can take a personal algorithmic cleanse and seek out human curators for more meaningful digital experiences.
Deep dives
The Pervasive Influence of Algorithms
Algorithms and algorithmic feeds have taken over our digital consumption, influencing not only our online experiences but also our actions in the physical world. These algorithms optimize for engagement, leading to a highly curated and spoon-fed experience. The result is a homogeneity of tastes and aesthetics, with people guided towards the same objects, styles, or experiences. This phenomenon becomes evident when we notice everyone around us wearing the same jacket that we were also targeted at on Instagram. While recommendation algorithms can introduce us to new things, the broad control they exert over our consumption limits our exposure to challenging, surprising, and meaningful cultural experiences.
The Tension Between Algorithmic Flattening and Expansion of Culture
Recommendation algorithms have become an integral part of our internet experience, helping us navigate the vast amounts of user-generated content. While they can expand our horizons by introducing us to new content, they also contribute to the flattening of culture. The algorithmic pathways we travel guide us towards the same objects, aesthetics, or experiences as others in our bucket. However, this reliance on algorithms to curate our cultural consumption narrows our exposure to diverse and challenging content. This tension between algorithmic flattening and expansion raises questions about the choices and control users have over what they see.
Breaking Free from the Algorithmic Bubble
The pervasive influence of algorithmic feeds has led to a growing awareness of their negative effects on our experiences and culture. To counteract this, individuals can take steps to break free from the algorithmic bubble. One approach is to conduct a personal algorithmic cleanse by temporarily disconnecting from platforms that heavily rely on algorithms. This can provide a mental clarity and intentionality in consumption, allowing individuals to follow their own interests and taste. Additionally, seeking out human curators and tastemakers, and engaging with smaller-scale platforms that foster direct connections between creators and consumers, can lead to more meaningful and sustainable digital experiences.
The Role of Curation and the Value of Human Taste
In a tech-driven world, curation plays a crucial role in guiding our choices and helping us navigate an overwhelming amount of content. While many platforms encourage self-curation, true curation goes beyond mere selection and involves caretaking of culture, creating connections, and providing context. When searching for curators worth following, it is essential to find individuals who go beyond surface-level selection and offer deep insights, connections between ideas, historical context, and a genuine resonance with one's own taste. Journalists, with their expertise in cultural commentary, have a unique advantage in the field of curation, but new forms of curation are emerging on various platforms.
“The internet demands that everyone be a kind of curator: you're a curator of your own Instagram, of your opinions on Twitter, of what playlists you listen to on Spotify. There's a lot of curation going on but it's more in the sense of selecting between stuff. Curation, to me, is a much more deep-seated act that has more to do with the caretaking of culture, building context, and creating histories that might be overlooked.” — Kyle Chayka, Author, “Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture”
If you’ve heard of things like Instagram face or the Brooklyn coffee shop effect, you know the tremendous power algorithms have in shaping our lives. Journalist Kyle Chayka has been tracking this phenomenon for years and has concluded that algorithmically mediated digital platforms are not making our experiences better. In fact, he says, they are flattening our culture.
You don’t have to wait for his book, “Filterworld,” to come out in January 2024 to explore how this “algorithmification” of our social feeds is having profound effects on our media, communication, physical spaces, aesthetic preferences, consumer habits, and more.
Highlights, inspiration and key learnings from the conversation:
How algorithms can be simultaneously flattening and expanding culture
How to detox from algorithms
What makes a human curator worth following (and if journalists have a leg up)
The influencer backlash and de-influencing trend
How generative AI is impacting culture
👋 Say "hi" to Kyle. 🔎 Browse the companion Storyboard to get the episode, plus Kyle’s own favorite culture picks. ➕ This podcast was created by Flipboard, the world’s first social magazine, where enthusiasts are curating stories they recommend across thousands of interests. Learn more.
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