sophie4man 's review for:

Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture by Kyle Chayka

5.0

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Yes yes yes! I loved this book. I had already learned the extent of which social media companies track and monetize our activity (“The Social Dilemma”), but this book centers on the algorithms at the heart of social media and advertisements. While most books, articles and podcast episodes focus on how algorithmic recommendations affect politics and social science, Chayka’s book focuses on the cultural aspect. Algorithmic recommendations created by social media companies can cause us to lose our sense of personal taste. Instagram has an algorithmic-curated ‘explore’ page. TikTok has an algorithmic-curated ‘for you’ feed. Do you actually like the content or do you think you like it because you are being told it is made for you? Did you know Netflix customizes the thumbnail images based on who they think you are and your viewing profile? So if “they” think you are a big action fan, they will show you the action scene of a show even if it is a rom-com.