Escape the algorithm

Kyle Chayka is a founding editor of Dirt. This essay is drawn from his new book Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture, which is available online and in bookstores today. Kyle will have tour events through January in DC, NYC, Boston, LA, and SF.

The internet today is criss-crossed with algorithmic feeds. One pushes you toward another; popularity on one platform drives popularity the rest. In part it works that way because it has to: We generate so much content online that we need a way of sorting through the flood. Automated recommendations provide a useful service, sifting the 3% of content we might be interested in from the 97% that we definitely are not. But the algorithms are now working too hard, undermining our ability to know exactly what it is we actually like. 

I wrote Filterworld to diagnose that problem, but also to figure out a way out of it. I’m optimistic: Just because the internet works this way now doesn’t mean it has to, or that our system of algorithmic feeds is somehow inevitable. We might not be able to control how the Instagram or X feeds work, but we can control our relationship to algorithmic recommendations and correct our dependence on them. If the tech companies won’t change, then we have to force them to change, or change ourselves. 

Regulation 

The European Union is doing a much better job of developing policies around social media than the United States. Overarching regulations like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Digital Services Act are forcing social networks to give users rights to their data, control over when they are surveilled, and the ability to change how algorithmic recommendations work or opt out of them entirely. This isn’t a far-off fantasy; it’s happening right now. 

Alternative platforms 

Not every digital platform is algorithmic. You can move off the automated feeds and into human-curated spaces online. Idagio is a great streaming service that focuses solely on classical music and includes much more background information and taxonomy for the recordings. The Criterion Channel curates art films and series. Or join a Discord community (like Dirt’s) that centers on your favorite genre of culture. Don’t forget to pay your creators and curators alike. 

Logging off

It’s easy to forget that we used to find music, movies, photography, and books entirely offline. You’re more likely to discover something truly serendipitous and surprising flipping through vintage magazines at your local public library than endlessly scrolling an Instagram feed that’s already tailored to your taste. Stroll through an art museum without looking at the artists’ names on the labels: see the paintings without preconceptions. Follow an indie radio station’s show week after week and get to know the DJ. 

Make your own recommendations

To construct a world without algorithmic feeds, we all have to work harder as curators. It doesn’t take any professional training. All you have to do is think hard about something that you like (a song, a novel, a film), figure out why you like it, and explain it to a friend who you think might like that thing, too. We’ve outsourced the act of recommendation to machines, but we can just as easily take it back. It’s a quietly revolutionary act. 

Buy Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture online or call your local human-curated bookstore to request it!