"Life in the Instagram bubble requires a constant calibration of how it will be viewed from outside. That need to make life itself aesthetic, to ask, over and over “What will this look like in a square?” exerts a slow, constant pressure of its own." (Jacob Mikanowski)
The flattening of intent across algorithms has created a new competitive landscape. The musician isn’t competing for attention/fandom between others in their genre. An artist being forced to be an influencer before they are an artist is not a “I think we are good” software environment. Far from it. They are competing against a pornstar on a... See more
The illusion persists because there’s so much money in it. Back in 2016, Ben Thompson wrote that Google’s AI efforts were at odds with its business model: “If a user doesn’t have to choose from search results, said user also doesn’t have the opportunity to click an ad, thus choosing the winner of the competition Google created between its... See more
"Unlike the open source movement or Wikipedia, participants of social networks do not seem to follow a common noble goal, or celebrate a community spirit. The focus here lies on the individual." (Dennis Knopf)