Filterworld

"'Necessary reading for anyone who has wondered just how, in expanding our world, the internet has ended up emptying our experience of it. [...] Timely, erudite, important.' -- Ayad Akhtar, Pulitzer Prize winner and author of Homeland Elegies 'Kyle Chayka is a vital observer of how digital technology shapes our culture, and Filterworld will change how you think about the internet. In his invigorating new book, Chayka demonstrates how everything from movies to music, design, media, and travel is at the mercy of algorithms.' -- Ben Smith, author of Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral 'Filterworld is a vital interrogation of algorithmic technology and its unrelenting power in shaping both our online and offline experiences. Chayka deftly explains how today's social media ecosystem operates and, more importantly, reveals a way out of the ever-tightening grip of this stifling digital filtration. [...] Filterworld is required reading for anyone who uses the Internet.' -- Taylor Lorenz, author of Extremely Online... 'Filterworld skillfully interrogates how the giant project of measuring humanity using the internet turned into an unfortunate modification of humanity. The story told here is instrumental to your own, even if you do not realize it.' -- Jaron Lanier, author of Dawn of the New Everything and The Father of Virtual Reality 'An essential book for anyone questioning if their phones are ""listening"" to them.' * i-D * 'The promise of the Internet is that it is boundless, full of original content and unique cultural connections. So why does everything look, sound and feel the same? Kyle Chayka's insightful and timely book explains how big tech's algorithms have homogenized our experiences for profit, and too often left us poorer for it.' -- James Griffiths, author of The Great Firewall of China and Speak Not 'Filterworld incisively diagnoses a problem that I've long felt but struggled to name and is the most convincing explanation I've encountered for why so many of our cultural products carry an uncanny whiff of familiarity. Amidst cheers for the death of the monoculture, Chayka offers a sharp and necessary counterpoint, demonstrating how mass culture, even as it diffuses into niche datastreams, trends toward a vacuous mean.' -- Meghan O’Gieblyn, author of God, Human, Animal, Machine"