Having divested from any kind of algo in my day-to-day for a long time now, I can't recommend the alternatives enough. Get writing from writers (books, magazines, substack), music from music communities (online radio shows, labels I like, writers), film suggestions from people who think about film instead of what an app is pushing at me, etc. There's lots of great internet away from the platforms, and the digging continues...
Yeah, I didn't want to suggest that I'm totally reliant on the algorithm for everything. I have a really robust system for finding the music that I like that I've written about previously. I subscribe to a couple magazines, etc. Perfectly happy to go for a dig and cool stuff is out there online if you really look for it. It's just a shame that interesting stuff isn't being prioritized or boosted in the mainstream like it once was in the '90s magazine era.
I would say we're definitely in the minority when it comes to people who will actively search for alternatives. I'm maligning the overall social media ecosystem that once supercharged my discovery that has now been shifted into a structure designed purely for corporations to profit. It's hard for folks to make time to listen to online radio shows and read books, even though they are ultimately more spiritually nourishing than what is being fed to us everyday.
I'm hopeful that the decline of all the 00's platforms will helps people find and contribute to the alternatives at a faster rate. It's definitely feeling like rock bottom as you say. Maybe we can all get back to a slower intake and processing of information once the effects of the current system are well known to everybody.
Thank you. As someone with eclectic tastes, I've rarely, if ever, found algorithms helpful. (Yes, there have been exceptions.) Now that I no longer use social media as a news source at all, I don't feel any less informed — although that takes work, work that I fear most people don't want to do. And, obviously, if one doesn't put any work into informing oneself, then misinformation flourishes. But "clocking in" to the daily outrage cycle is a complete waste of time and I feel much better without it.
Love the Hazlitt piece and glad to read some succinct writing on this. Like many others, these ideas have been circulating in my head for a minute now. I used to feel like Spotify showed me a bunch of cool artists that I wouldn’t have otherwise found, but now most of their playlists feel like they are cycling the same handful of songs by the same handful of artists that I already like. Definitely miss “the good old days”...
Glad I'm not alone on this! I still do find that the algorithmic suggestions after one of my own playlists can show me pretty relevant songs that I didn't know already from time to time but it feels like that's the exception rather than the rule.
The music thing is wild and right on. I have a problem with the stat about how much 'catalogue' we listen to though. I feel like that's actually a GOOD thing. To me, it makes the music less disposable. Listening to something other than just the newest releases indicates that maybe we're resisting the forced consumption of New Music Friday. It takes me years sometimes to clue into albums because there simply are too many. The industry is obsessed with immediate adoption of content, but the truth is what matters is if something has any kind of legs or resonance going forward. I'm always bouncing between old and new so it doesn't feel like work all the time and it makes me much happier.
There's more new music than at any time in history but people are ignoring it for older stuff. That strikes me as bad because that means most new stuff isn't resonating with listeners. I also speak as an active musician trying to break through the algorithm to get my music heard. I guess it might just be bad for people like me haha
"As a result of social media’s tendency to regularly transform into a minefield of disinformation, anger and unqualified opinions"
But... that's literally what it was back when it was "fun". It was up to you to navigate it all. Now we have corporations attempting to homogenize everything like it was network TV — that's why it's not fun anymore. All their attempts at controlling conversation online has only made people more angry — and the people who couldn't hang before now cower behind the establishment's apron strings.
It's basically like having a step-parent show up and try controlling your life, and suddenly half your siblings take their side because now they get to control you, too... but not by interacting with you and convincing you that their ideas are superior, but by pleading to step-daddy establishment to silence and punish you.
The old internet was total chaos but it was user-defined. It was the wild west. I really enjoyed it. I used to be on all these different music message boards and felt like I was discovering music and making real friends, even though some of the posts were much more offensive than what would be considered acceptable on social media today. The way it is now, corporations have found a way to profit from our anger. Content that makes us all mad is prioritized over anything else.
On top of that, they've smoothed out the edges so everything that we get served is also more bland. Back in the day, misinformation happened. We didn't know everything and that was okay. But the problem is that disinformation has become monetized, actively boosted and rapidly disseminated in a way that wasn't possible back then. It feels like every other person or entity is intentionally trying to mislead us. I never felt that way back in the early internet, even when I was dodging computer viruses on dodgy sites.
"It feels like every other person or entity is intentionally trying to mislead us. I never felt that way back in the early internet"
I did. The difference now is that it's people with the backing of the establishment doing it... it's not just rando scammers, it's the people in charge.
Having divested from any kind of algo in my day-to-day for a long time now, I can't recommend the alternatives enough. Get writing from writers (books, magazines, substack), music from music communities (online radio shows, labels I like, writers), film suggestions from people who think about film instead of what an app is pushing at me, etc. There's lots of great internet away from the platforms, and the digging continues...
Yeah, I didn't want to suggest that I'm totally reliant on the algorithm for everything. I have a really robust system for finding the music that I like that I've written about previously. I subscribe to a couple magazines, etc. Perfectly happy to go for a dig and cool stuff is out there online if you really look for it. It's just a shame that interesting stuff isn't being prioritized or boosted in the mainstream like it once was in the '90s magazine era.
I would say we're definitely in the minority when it comes to people who will actively search for alternatives. I'm maligning the overall social media ecosystem that once supercharged my discovery that has now been shifted into a structure designed purely for corporations to profit. It's hard for folks to make time to listen to online radio shows and read books, even though they are ultimately more spiritually nourishing than what is being fed to us everyday.
I'm hopeful that the decline of all the 00's platforms will helps people find and contribute to the alternatives at a faster rate. It's definitely feeling like rock bottom as you say. Maybe we can all get back to a slower intake and processing of information once the effects of the current system are well known to everybody.
Thank you. As someone with eclectic tastes, I've rarely, if ever, found algorithms helpful. (Yes, there have been exceptions.) Now that I no longer use social media as a news source at all, I don't feel any less informed — although that takes work, work that I fear most people don't want to do. And, obviously, if one doesn't put any work into informing oneself, then misinformation flourishes. But "clocking in" to the daily outrage cycle is a complete waste of time and I feel much better without it.
Love the Hazlitt piece and glad to read some succinct writing on this. Like many others, these ideas have been circulating in my head for a minute now. I used to feel like Spotify showed me a bunch of cool artists that I wouldn’t have otherwise found, but now most of their playlists feel like they are cycling the same handful of songs by the same handful of artists that I already like. Definitely miss “the good old days”...
Glad I'm not alone on this! I still do find that the algorithmic suggestions after one of my own playlists can show me pretty relevant songs that I didn't know already from time to time but it feels like that's the exception rather than the rule.
Yes. To all of this.
Thanks for reading!
The music thing is wild and right on. I have a problem with the stat about how much 'catalogue' we listen to though. I feel like that's actually a GOOD thing. To me, it makes the music less disposable. Listening to something other than just the newest releases indicates that maybe we're resisting the forced consumption of New Music Friday. It takes me years sometimes to clue into albums because there simply are too many. The industry is obsessed with immediate adoption of content, but the truth is what matters is if something has any kind of legs or resonance going forward. I'm always bouncing between old and new so it doesn't feel like work all the time and it makes me much happier.
There's more new music than at any time in history but people are ignoring it for older stuff. That strikes me as bad because that means most new stuff isn't resonating with listeners. I also speak as an active musician trying to break through the algorithm to get my music heard. I guess it might just be bad for people like me haha
Thanks for reading!
The interesting thing is though that maybe on the long term it’s getting through? Hopefully? 🤞🏾
Hopefully! I do think that the cream does eventually rise to the top and get to the people who would be interested in it...
"As a result of social media’s tendency to regularly transform into a minefield of disinformation, anger and unqualified opinions"
But... that's literally what it was back when it was "fun". It was up to you to navigate it all. Now we have corporations attempting to homogenize everything like it was network TV — that's why it's not fun anymore. All their attempts at controlling conversation online has only made people more angry — and the people who couldn't hang before now cower behind the establishment's apron strings.
It's basically like having a step-parent show up and try controlling your life, and suddenly half your siblings take their side because now they get to control you, too... but not by interacting with you and convincing you that their ideas are superior, but by pleading to step-daddy establishment to silence and punish you.
The old internet was total chaos but it was user-defined. It was the wild west. I really enjoyed it. I used to be on all these different music message boards and felt like I was discovering music and making real friends, even though some of the posts were much more offensive than what would be considered acceptable on social media today. The way it is now, corporations have found a way to profit from our anger. Content that makes us all mad is prioritized over anything else.
On top of that, they've smoothed out the edges so everything that we get served is also more bland. Back in the day, misinformation happened. We didn't know everything and that was okay. But the problem is that disinformation has become monetized, actively boosted and rapidly disseminated in a way that wasn't possible back then. It feels like every other person or entity is intentionally trying to mislead us. I never felt that way back in the early internet, even when I was dodging computer viruses on dodgy sites.
"It feels like every other person or entity is intentionally trying to mislead us. I never felt that way back in the early internet"
I did. The difference now is that it's people with the backing of the establishment doing it... it's not just rando scammers, it's the people in charge.