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Taste is increasingly dictated by algorithms

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Re: Taste is increasingly dictated by algorithms

#11

Post by greggarious »

I'm a film buff and I think so. A lot of people don't seem to go out of their way to obtain films aside from looking at Netflix recommendations. Back when I used OkCupid I could tell when something older went on because it immediately got listed under "favorite movies" by a certain type of hipster ;)

(I distinctly remember how overnight everyone looooovveeed Amelie when it went up)

Sadly it's a lot harder to find new (or new to me) films serendipitously. With the closing of rental shops, the last bastion seems to be the DVD section at local libraries.

Re: Taste is increasingly dictated by algorithms

#12

Post by dragonwriter »

bazzlexposition wrote: post #10
malvosenior wrote: post #5

> That we are in the midst of this shift in taste might help explain our larger mood of instability and paranoia (or is it just me?). It's just you. There's always been a mainstream and an underground. Now the underground is much larger and more diverse and arguably the mainstream is a bit better (due to said diversity). Source: I lived through the 90s and was basically forced by Clear Channel to listen to Ozzy Osbou…

Great point, they didn't have algorithms deciding our music in the 1990s, instead you had Clear Channel. Radio in the 1990s was the same 40-60 songs played over and over. Then for TV you basically had the 4 major networks,FOX Friday Night, Must See TV, TGIF, and all the rest. People don't remember how much that sucked.

Actually, in the 1990s was the peak of major commercial broadcast networks with 6, not 4 (the old big 3, plus Fox, plus UPN And The WB.)

Re: Taste is increasingly dictated by algorithms

#13

Post by everdev »

firasd wrote: post #9

Really interesting article. Weird thing is that in the social media era, humans ourselves seem behave in algorithmic ways. My Twitter feed is full of Beyonce worship every few months even though I've been mostly-indifferent to her music for 20 years. But when people come together like a hive and retweet how they excited they are about some shared interest, there doesn't need to be a recommendation engine pushing a sp…

Initially the algorithm is a reflection (or amplification) of our existing behavior. But at some point, that reflection and amplification causes it's own ripples.

So, the Beyonce fever becomes pitched in large part because of algorithms suggesting that content. I don't think each of those tweets would have happened independently.

The critique is that we're being fed so many suggestions that we don't have room to find out for ourselves what we like or want to talk about. Instead many times we're simply responding to and consuming the recommended content.

So there are people at the wheel, but the majority is along for the ride.

Re: Taste is increasingly dictated by algorithms

#14

Post by sctb »

greggarious wrote: post #11

I'm a film buff and I think so. A lot of people don't seem to go out of their way to obtain films aside from looking at Netflix recommendations. Back when I used OkCupid I could tell when something older went on because it immediately got listed under "favorite movies" by a certain type of hipster ;) (I distinctly remember how overnight everyone looooovveeed Amelie when it went up) Sadly it's a lot harder to find new…

And yet I find it impossible to muster any indignation at the idea of more people watching and enjoying Amélie.

Re: Taste is increasingly dictated by algorithms

#15

Post by SadWebDeveloper »

No, social media exposes us to a bigger world making it more easily to find people like you online that share the same interests or "taste". If you only take into account people on your close social circle, you will still be "the one with that unique taste" around your bubble like everyone used to think they had -a unique taste- before social media.

Re: Taste is increasingly dictated by algorithms

#17

Post by MrL567 »

Reminds me of this https://www.theverge.com/2016/8/3/12325104/airbnb-aesthetic-... article on how airbnb has changed the aesthetics of certain places. I feel like fears of algorithmic based fashion is overgrown but articles like this and that one show that something did happen that resulted in taste in certain places converging onto a similar style.

Re: Taste is increasingly dictated by algorithms

#18

Post by indigochill »

greggarious wrote: post #11

I'm a film buff and I think so. A lot of people don't seem to go out of their way to obtain films aside from looking at Netflix recommendations. Back when I used OkCupid I could tell when something older went on because it immediately got listed under "favorite movies" by a certain type of hipster ;) (I distinctly remember how overnight everyone looooovveeed Amelie when it went up) Sadly it's a lot harder to find new…

It might be interesting to analyze how it is you serendipitously find new films and whether that could be applied to a site like Netflix. Is it a cover that catches your eye? A recommendation from a passerby? A random pick off the shelf? Etc. Any of these approaches could be replicated in a web interface.

I think Stumbleupon was quite clever at what it did and I'm disappointed more services haven't picked up on the "Give us a broad category and pull the lever to make the slot machine spit out something you've never seen before" approach to content. But it does give me hope that algorithms can provide the experience of serendipity if the people designing the application make that choice.

Re: Taste is increasingly dictated by algorithms

#19

Post by mattkrause »

greggarious wrote: post #11

I'm a film buff and I think so. A lot of people don't seem to go out of their way to obtain films aside from looking at Netflix recommendations. Back when I used OkCupid I could tell when something older went on because it immediately got listed under "favorite movies" by a certain type of hipster ;) (I distinctly remember how overnight everyone looooovveeed Amelie when it went up) Sadly it's a lot harder to find new…

Do you think people actually like—or are claiming to like—a movie just because Netflix recommends it? To me, it seems more likely that this just reflects increase availability: more people suddenly have access to a movie, so more watch it and some of those will like it.

I can see how people, especially on a dating site, would feel pressured to mention something highbrow, but the social pressure itself isn’t coming from Netflix.

Re: Taste is increasingly dictated by algorithms

#20

Post by digi_owl »

firasd wrote: post #9

Really interesting article. Weird thing is that in the social media era, humans ourselves seem behave in algorithmic ways. My Twitter feed is full of Beyonce worship every few months even though I've been mostly-indifferent to her music for 20 years. But when people come together like a hive and retweet how they excited they are about some shared interest, there doesn't need to be a recommendation engine pushing a sp…

In a sense social media feeds on our pack animal hindbrain...
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