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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
informative
challenging
informative
reflective
fast-paced
“Building your own sense of taste, that set of subconscious principles by which you identify what you like, is an uphill battle compared to passively consuming whatever content feeds deliver to you. But the situation can't solely be blamed on the presence of algorithms. Today we have more cultural options available to us than ever and they are accessible on demand. We are free to choose anything. Yet the choice we often make is to not have a choice, to have our purview shaped by automated feeds, which may be based on the aggregate actions of humans but are not human in themselves.”
informative
medium-paced
The basic idea of the book is that algorithmic curation focuses on getting the greatest number of people to engage with the largest amount of content for for the longest time. This forces content more and more towards being accessible to the lowest common denominator. Especially as the volume of content grows and users have less time to engage with or think critically about the content, algorithms push us toward the things that are immediately clear and gratifying rather than the things that make us think and grow.
My take away was that I need to do more to prioritize feeds where I am guided by human content creators. This books directly forced the biggest change in my personal content consumption of any single book I've read in a long time. It provided not just they why for making a change, but was peppered with actionable things readers could try in order to adjust their content diet. I didn't really notice the book was giving advice until I realized several weeks after finishing the book that I had taken it's advice.
Things I've changed:
My take away was that I need to do more to prioritize feeds where I am guided by human content creators. This books directly forced the biggest change in my personal content consumption of any single book I've read in a long time. It provided not just they why for making a change, but was peppered with actionable things readers could try in order to adjust their content diet. I didn't really notice the book was giving advice until I realized several weeks after finishing the book that I had taken it's advice.
Things I've changed:
- No longer listen to autoplayed music on spotify
- Seek out albums over algorithmic playlists
- Ask for Jazz recommendations from friends and coworkers
- Listen to NPR music over Spotify where possible
Definitely there is more to do, including changes to how I select content to watch in youtube and how I pick books read, but feels like a start.
informative
inspiring
reflective
informative
reflective
fast-paced
Fascinating audiobook about the consequences of algorithms on music, art, poetry, travel and life in general.
I especially appreciated that the advice wasn’t to log off and avoid all technology, but to be more intentional about how we curate media, and investing time in developing your own sense of taste.
I especially appreciated that the advice wasn’t to log off and avoid all technology, but to be more intentional about how we curate media, and investing time in developing your own sense of taste.
informative
informative
sad
medium-paced
Some parts of this were super interesting, and other parts I skimmed.