algorithmic anxiety
in preparation for the RADAR event
algorithmic anxiety
... See moreThe hollowed-out meaning of taste in the Filterworld era has something in common with the way engagement is measured by digital platforms: it's a snap judgment predicated mostly on whether something provokes immediate like or dislike. Taste's moral capac-ity, the idea that it generally leads an individual toward a better society as well as better c
So much of culture now is about soliciting attention by any means necessary, and the attention is the goal and the measure of success. The thing itself is secondary. — KC
On the other side of our algorithmic anxiety is a state of numb-ness. The dopamine rushes become inadequate, and the noise and speed of the feeds overwhelming. Our natural reaction is to seek out culture that embraces nothingness, that blankets and soothes rather than challenges or surprises, as powerful artwork is meant to do. Our capacity to be m
... See more‘Algorithmic’ has become a byword for anything that feels too slick, too reductive, or too optimized for attracting attention: a combination of high production values with little concern for fundamental content.
— Filterworld, pg. 140
You don't wanna go viral. Trust me. I did it.
youtube.comSocial media’s algorithms, Manifest Destiny style, took the wide-open space of my attention as empty land to be colonized. And to colonize desirable space, land has to be first defined as free, available for the taking. Which means, conveniently, the land has no life, or reason, or desire, unto itself and isn’t already a “home.” But my attention is... See more
Lia Purpura • The Ecology of Attention
The culture that thrives in Filterworld tends to be accessible, replicable, participatory, and ambient. It can be shared across wide audiences and retain its meaning across different groups, who tweak it slightly to their own ends. (In Filterworld, everything must be a meme, like a remixable joke or image optimized to travel across the Internet.)
The outcome of such algorithmic gatekeeping is the pervasive flattening that has been happening across culture. By fatness I mean homogenization but also a reduction into simplicity: the least ambiguous, least disruptive, and perhaps least meaningful pieces of culture are promoted the most.
Flatness is the lowest common denominator, an averageness t
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