The Age of Algorithmic Anxiety

Kyle Chayka for the New Yorker:

…[s]ocial networks have always purported to show us things that we like—things that we might have organically gravitated to ourselves. Why, then, can it feel as though the entire ecosystem of content that we interact with online has been engineered to influence us in ways that we can’t quite parse, and that have only a distant relationship to our own authentic preferences?

I think there was a period of time where there was an algorithm trying to figure out things you might like and showing them to you. But these days? The “algorithm” is “whoever pays Instagram.”

I think there used to be a period of time where clicking “I don’t like this” might have done something. But I’m not sure that button presses anything anymore.

Date

September 13, 2022

Up next

We could all use a ‘This is Fine’ Focus mode Victoria Song for the Verge: In all seriousness, it kinda blows that I felt the need to set this up in the first place. That said, it’s been

Previously

The Thread Is Dead Angelina Chapin for the Cut: For many, the group chat has shifted from a necessity to a nuisance since we’ve resumed boarding planes and meeting at

The Age of Algorithmic Anxiety

Tags

Date

Up next

Previously