I Don't Want to Control My News (And Neither Should You)
In a new essay at WBUR's Cognoscenti, I argue that we shouldn't let recommendation algorithms filter the news
We live in the age of algorithmic everything: Amazon suggests products I should buy based on those I’ve already purchased, Netflix tells me what to watch next, Apple Music named a whole radio station after me and helpfully filled it with my favorite indie rock songs from the early 2000s. The algorithm is everywhere, invisibly making choices for me throughout the day; but recently I’ve grown deeply suspicious of these unseen algorithmic overlords.
This is, in part, because I’m reading New Yorker writer Kyle Chayka’s new book “Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture,” in which he shines the light on algorithmic influence everywhere from digital apps to physical spaces. But it’s also because the algorithm has found me where it really never should: my bathroom. I’ll explain…