Welcome to Filterworld｜Dirt

Filterworld is not limited to digital experiences on our screens. It is a pervasive force that shapes the physical world, too. Because algorithmic systems influence the kinds of culture we consume as individuals, molding our personal tastes, they also influence what kinds of places and spaces we gravitate toward.

that have been dressed up and automated as technological ones, at an inhuman scale and speed. Designed and maintained by the engineers of monopolistic tech companies, and running on data that we users continuously provide by logging in each day, the technology is both constructed by us and dominates us, manipulating our perceptions and attention. T

Filterworld can be fascistic, in that the algorithmic feeds tend to create templates of how things are supposed to be, always informed by inherent biases—a bracketing of reality that is then fulfilled by users creating content that fits the mold.

Filterworld and its slick sameness can induce a breathtaking, near-debilitating sense of anxiety. The sameness feels inescapable, alienating even as it is marketed as desirable.