Reviews - Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture

757 reviews for:

Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture

Could have been an essay. Should have been an essay, or maybe a private conversation with a friend. It failed to be an engaging history and, as a call to reclaim the work of building personal taste, it was bloated and pretentious.

readalongwithnat's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 20%

I just don’t find myself wanting to pick this one up! May return to it in the future idk!!

books_and_cl0uds's review against another edition

4.0

informative reflective

nquinn's review against another edition

4.0

informative reflective medium-paced

lybarron's review against another edition

5.0

informative medium-paced

rdrift_reads's review against another edition

4.0

informative reflective medium-paced

I ran quite quickly through this. Because I work in tech consulting, there wasn't a ton that was super surprising. But Chayka's got a way of explaining the more complicated technical workings very simply, and the interviews and anecdotes he weaves in grounds and humanizes the stakes.

The final chapter insisting on our individual responsibilities is probably the book's weakest point. It feels a little too American and antithetical to the book's message that our technology/media shapes us. It feels like he actually believes in policy solutions but that alone felt too bleak. I do appreciate his desire to give users back their agency though.

In sum, a very work-relevant, life-relevant topic, written well about.