When everything is measured in terms of engagement, content will be optimized for addictiveness. Not entertainment or artistic merit. Not intellectual substance or creativity. Pure, plain addictiveness.
As someone who very much enjoys podcasts I continue to be frustrated that so much information is locked up in opaque audio files. How do we make all of this information accessible, searchable, navigable, linkable, upvotable, etc? Great opportunity if someone does this right, imo.
the internet era of culture is a contest between the old model of top-down elite tastemakers telling you what's good and the new numbers-driven viral creator ecosystem in which algorithmic feeds tell you what you like