The tyranny of the algorithm: why every coffee shop looks the same
coffee shops are physical filtering algorithms, too: they sort people based on their preferences, quietly attracting a particular crowd and repelling others by their design and menu choices.
Kyle Chayka • Filterworld
Chesky said that Airbnb was focused on solving this problem of "travel redistribution." Since tech platforms rarely address the enormity of the social changes they have caused, preferring to deem-phasize their own power, it surprised me that he admitted Airbnb had an effect not just on how people travel, but on where they go, actively influencing t
... See moreThe vast interconnection enabled by digital platforms has ended up creating more of a sense of sameness than diversity. Users are subtly guided toward the same subsets of topics, urged on by recommendations that are designed not to serve their interests but to create profitable attention fodder to sell to advertisers. Instagram doesn’t care that yo... See more
Welcome to Filterworld｜Dirt
Yet that vision of smallness is under the auspices and control of Airbnb, following the template the company has set and the conditions that it profits under. Smallness implies homogeneity and a move toward uniformity, most likely under a Western default, under the ideology of the tech industry. The trade-off that Chesky implied was that the more m
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