algorithmic anxiety

This shift towards a global sameness, driven by digital platforms' algorithms, challenges the very notion of personal taste. As these platforms prioritize content or products that resonate on a mass scale, they nudge us toward a homogenized cultural landscape. The result is a world where diversity of thought and creativity often gets drowned out by... See more

This theme isn’t just confined to bookstores; it sprawls throughout our urban fabric, notably into the realm of generic coffee shops. Both scenarios – bookshops and coffee shops – underscore a broader trend: our tastes and preferences, once diverse and eclectic, are being molded into a uniform, digitally driven aesthetic.

In this realm, what wins is... See more

What we’re not noticing enough is the fact that algorithms have flattened our cultural landscape and induced a sense of passivity and numbness, challenging our capacity to engage deeply or be genuinely curious.

Introduced by the author Kyle Chayka, the term ‘Filterworld’ encapsulates the phenomenon of uniformity shaped by the invisible hand of digital algorithms. In this digital age, algorithms are the unseen curators, dictating the content you consume and influencing your tastes, relationships, and the fabric of your daily life through interfacing platfo... See more

Elan: How do you think about success when publishing a piece? If you have the traditional KPIs of number of page views or how far it spreads, what does success look like for The Pudding?

Matt: Great question. It’s definitely not hard metrics for us. Everyone has their own barometer of success, just as they have their own barometer of quality.

For exa... See more