The age of the algorithm
The age of the algorithm
In 2020, the writer Alex Murrell captured the mood in his essay The Age of Average. “Design in almost every category is being relentlessly optimised and the result is a creeping sameness infecting everything around us,” wrote Murrell. “It’s a design problem, but it’s also driven by algorithmic globalisation.” He identified a certain global blandness overtaking a vast range of areas, from home goods to pop songs, even to how we design our own personal spaces (like the ever-present succulent). Murrell wasn’t describing the generic cafe phenomenon specifically, but the two are manifestations of the same force: the relentless flattening effect that comes when digital media platforms influence all of our choices, leading us to replicate what others have already liked and what algorithms have already designated as successful.
In recent years, there’s been a growing awareness of the term “algorithm”. The word has taken on a semi-mystical aura, with a vague sense that algorithms are a powerful force shaping our lives, although most of us don’t know exactly how. They are often blamed for our worst internet experiences: conspiracy-theory rabbit holes on YouTube, or hateful replies on Twitter. But algorithms can be positive, too. They power the Spotify recommendation engine, or help us to find someone to date on OkCupid.
Shaping Business Models and Influencing Our Digital Lives
In the business world, they allow companies to collect data about their customers and target their advertising. Many modern businesses now operate at a vast scale because of their ability to sort and manipulate enormous amounts of data, turning our collective behaviours into a resource. It was through algorithms that Google created its dominant business model of selling advertising space – we pay for our internet searches by giving our data away, which is collected and sold to advertisers so they can target us with ever more precision.
The word “algorithm” has been in common use since the 12th century; it’s simply a series of instructions that tell a computer how to complete a task. In the case of something like Instagram, the algorithm uses signals from users to sort all the things we share on the app and the accounts we follow, and decides what order to display them in on our feeds. Its goal is to keep each user glued to the app.
In the digital age, the scale and complexity of algorithms has grown exponentially. They are not only everywhere, but we have become completely dependent on them, even if we don’t fully understand their workings. Most social networks have opaque sorting algorithms based on a massive and ever-changing data set of our collective behaviour that no single human could fully grasp.
How Predictive Technology Shapes Our Daily Lives
The algorithms don’t just sort our posts chronologically, but learn what we like and dislike, and then predict what we will find engaging – often keeping us scrolling mindlessly for far longer than we intend. When we see a single TikTok, we’re likely to be shown another similar one very soon, and then another, and then another, creating an addictive, endless cycle.
“We live in the age of the algorithm,” wrote Evgeny Morozov in the New York Times in 2013. “Every day, millions of us consult algorithms to direct us to the right restaurant, the best movie, even the perfect mate. In so doing, we are learning the outlines of a brave new world, a world where algorithms play the role that experts and authorities did in ages past.” His observation was prescient. Over the next 10 years, algorithm-powered services would proliferate, and we would increasingly come to accept their influence as a basic fact of modern life.
Image Credit - Science News Explores
How Data-Driven Decisions Shape Our World and Aesthetics
“In the age of the algorithm, human expertise has fallen out of fashion. Why rely on fallible humans when computer programs can crunch vast amounts of data in order to help you buy a car, choose a school for your children or decide which song to listen to next?” Morozov mused. “It is no exaggeration to say that we now inhabit two quite distinct worlds: a less sophisticated world, where ordinary humans make decisions that affect themselves and only a few others, and a much more sophisticated world, where super-crunching algorithms make decisions that affect billions of people, often far from those algorithms’ central servers.” Algorithms are a tool, but over the past 20 years that tool has been adopted with such zeal that it is now shaping our world.
It was inevitable that algorithms would come to shape the aesthetics of our favourite apps, as well as how they sort the content they put in front of us. The generic coffee shop aesthetic isn’t the result of any single designer, but rather a trend created by the confluence of many individual decisions informed by what users collectively have liked in the past. If a particular kind of cafe gets a lot of attention on the internet – via likes, comments, and shares – then it’s more likely to be boosted by algorithmic feeds and recommended to new users. The algorithm learns our taste preferences and offers us more of the same until eventually the whole genre becomes ubiquitous on social media.
Algorithmic Aesthetics
The aesthetics of the algorithm can be seen across many digital platforms, not just Instagram or Yelp. “It's like Pinterest but on steroids," was how one TikToker described The Pattern, an app that recommends products based on your personality. It relies on a proprietary data aggregation algorithm to learn its users' preferences, then offers targeted shopping experiences. Another example is Etsy: you’ll see recommendations if you search for “handmade necklace”, but instead of showing you everything on the site, Etsy’s algorithms make a guess as to what you’d most like to see based on your search and browsing history. The site has become a popular place to find mass-produced items, as well as truly handcrafted goods, as sellers learned what would appeal to potential customers by watching what rose to the top of search results.
Amazon’s “Frequently bought together” feature is one of the purest examples of a recommendation algorithm in action. These suggestions take into account what people who bought a product also purchased, and encourage customers to fill their cart with multiple items. If you are searching for a new cookbook, you might be prompted to buy an oven thermometer or a cooking apron at the same time. It’s a subtle psychological nudge, making purchases feel more convenient – and in turn, generating more data for Amazon to exploit.
Optimizing for digital life
Algorithms are a key part of the modern economy and not all of their uses are bad, even if sometimes they can be used in ethically questionable or simply annoying ways. When Spotify suggests songs based on what we have listened to in the past, it’s often a useful feature that may lead to discovering new music. Algorithms are used to predict the weather and can even be used to fight cancer. They are simply a tool; whether they are used for good or for ill is a matter of how humans choose to deploy them.
When businesses adapt themselves to the expectations of algorithmic platforms, they are trying to get ahead by playing to the rules of the digital age. There are obvious drawbacks to this kind of game-playing, including the aesthetic sameness we see repeated from New York to Tokyo. In trying to cater to an internet-created definition of what is “good,” businesses risk losing their originality and their own particular reason for being. But the allure of potential growth and success can be intoxicating. It can sometimes feel like a choice between adapting to algorithms or simply giving up.
Navigating Social Media’s Influence on Business Aesthetics
It may not be entirely fair to blame social media algorithms in cases where businesses chase aesthetics or trends, as human psychology is also at play. FOMO – or fear of missing out – has been heightened by digital platforms, as they offer a window into what everyone else is doing, in real time. There’s a fear of being left out of the conversation, of seeming out of touch or losing touch with trends, even if they have very little to do with your own business. No one wants to be the only business on the street that doesn’t have a social media presence, just as no business wants to seem like it doesn’t have its act together. The risk, of course, is in becoming too generic.
Businesses that can successfully resist the homogenising forces of the algorithm are those that manage to cultivate a certain uniqueness – even if they happen to operate in a highly saturated field such as coffee shops. That could mean a highly refined and consistent aesthetic, like the pared-down Japanese coffee stands in New York City. Or it could mean embracing the quirks and imperfections that make a place interesting and distinct, rather than trying to be like other, more successful cafes on social media.
Staying true to yourself
When a business becomes too caught up in the game of internet attention, it begins to serve the platforms more than it serves its actual customers. It risks losing the qualities that made it special to begin with and becoming instead a pale imitation of its former self. There has to be a balance between keeping up with what’s modern, without becoming entirely subsumed by it. The digital age has certainly created a challenging environment for small businesses to stand out from the crowd.
When a business becomes too focused on the internet's approval, a kind of crisis of identity can occur. The business owner may know what the algorithms seem to want, but that may not be achievable, or even desirable. For the smaller and more locally-focused businesses, catering to the internet might lead to an unsustainable model, or may even alienate the very customers who’ve supported the business from the start.
Trevor Walsh of Pilot Coffee Roasters in Toronto says they sometimes feel pressured to emulate cafes that seem to be thriving online. "It might be this very beautiful design-forward cafe in Tokyo, or maybe the cool new roastery in California." However, Walsh and his team know they can't necessarily afford those extravagant renovations, and nor would they necessarily appeal to their Toronto clientele. They need to pursue a vision that is both attainable and relevant to their place. "We have to be true to ourselves and true to our context," Walsh explains.
Building Genuine Community Connections in Business
The pressure on businesses to appeal to the algorithm is also about the perceived need to go viral in order to be successful. Many owners fall into the trap of believing that one video with millions of views could change everything. Yet, the reality is that even with a sudden spike in engagement, the attention is often fleeting. Building a community takes longer, with more nuanced forms of interaction. The internet's "viral" nature can be misleading.
"There was this period where everyone seemed to be focusing on making viral TikToks," says Anca Ungureanu from Beans & Dots in Bucharest. "We didn't feel comfortable doing that." Her business found more success with slower, community-focused growth. Instead of trying to make flashy content or following trends, Ungureanu simply documented everyday moments from the cafe – the perfect pour of a latte, the sunlight reflecting on a polished table. The approach felt honest, and customers enjoyed catching those glimpses. Beans & Dots' following may have grown more slowly than some of the trend-chasing cafes, but in the end, Ungureanu felt she was connecting with people who were genuinely interested in her business, and that led to genuine community connections.
"We built a community with people who liked what we liked," she says. "You cannot fool people."
Balancing Authenticity and Adaptation
There are some businesses that achieve a rare balance of adapting to social media and retaining a sense of authenticity. An example is Supermaker, a website that provides DIY crafting tutorials and other creative instruction. Supermaker is run by Jaime Derringer, an early internet adopter with a knack for understanding emerging platforms. Her approach combines internet savviness with a playful, quirky aesthetic that is immediately recognisable. Her success suggests that staying true to your vision doesn't mean ignoring the tools the internet offers, only that you need to be selective in how you utilize them.
In an era of ubiquitous information, standing out is about more than just having great products or great marketing. It's about having a strong point of view, a distinct perspective on the world and expressing that clearly through every aspect of your business, from your product to your physical space to your social media presence. That’s the quality that draws people in and makes them loyal.
The next AirSpace
The homogenisation of physical spaces and online content isn’t going away any time soon. There’s a constant pressure on all of us to follow the trends that the algorithms identify as successful, whether we are conscious of it or not. But there is room for optimism, too. The internet continues to change rapidly, and as new social networks emerge and replace older ones, there may be greater potential for those that resist genericism. There’s always a chance that the next big thing will favour originality, and then businesses that have been patiently building their own creative identities might have a distinct edge when the winds change.
It's also clear that a growing number of people are weary of the internet's sameness. There’s a sense that the original promise of digital networks – one of diverse connections based on obscure, shared interests – has not been fully realized. While the internet remains a place where everyone is free to express themselves, it has also become an environment where those who conform to the algorithmic trends are the most rewarded. That’s not necessarily the fault of any one platform. It's just a symptom of the current moment and the way information flows.
The Rise of Micro-Influencers and the Future of Genuine Online Communities
The challenge in the coming years is to find ways of harnessing the internet that help genuine individuality to flourish. Perhaps one model can be found in the rise of micro-influencer culture. These smaller, niche influencers tend to attract specific segments of users, offering a more targeted and nuanced sense of community. This kind of community building can't be easily manufactured at scale – its very power comes from the authenticity missing from the broader algorithmic experience. If internet users are growing more interested in these smaller, more personal modes of online interaction, maybe there’s hope that businesses of all sorts will be inspired to reject genericism in the same way.
Perhaps a new AirSpace is on the horizon, one far less aesthetically defined, and more focused on how spaces and platforms can foster the real connections we all crave. After all, whether online or off, authenticity will always be attractive.
The search for authenticity
In many ways, the search for “authenticity” online mirrors a desire for greater authenticity in the physical world. It speaks to a weariness with mass production, a longing for the handmade, and an awareness of the damage that global capitalism causes to local communities and the environment.
This was reflected in the rise of the artisanal food movement in the 2010s. The word “artisanal” often got used in an overly precious way; it ended up slapped on any product that was vaguely rustic or more expensive than average. Yet, there was a genuine desire behind consumers’ preference for artisanal goods, even as the term became a marketing cliché. People were willing to pay more for a small-batch, handcrafted object because it seemed more special and more personal. Buying from an independent maker is also an ethical choice: it means supporting someone in your own community and putting money back into the local economy.
Something similar is happening in the world of online content. More and more users are tired of the endless scroll of sameness offered by most popular social networks. They long for content that feels more unique or even flawed. There’s a growing appeal for the raw and the unedited over the perfectly art-directed photo spread.
Embracing Authenticity in the Age of Digital Perfection
One platform that has found major success with this kind of messy, authentic aesthetic is BeReal, a photo-sharing app that launched in 2020. BeReal only lets users post one photo per day and sends a notification at a random time demanding that users immediately share a pair of snapshots: one from their back-facing camera and one from their selfie camera. They are given two minutes to capture the scene they’re in, however mundane, with no opportunity to use filters. The appeal of the app is precisely that it disrupts the perfectionism of other social networks and the endless cycles of performance. It’s more about sharing a moment of real life with close friends than broadcasting an ideal self to strangers.
The idea of being “real” online can get tricky. Even a spontaneous, unfiltered photo on BeReal could be staged or carefully selected to portray a certain kind of lifestyle. The same is true of any online content, after all. No matter how much authenticity we may crave, the very act of choosing to share something with an audience is a performance of some kind. Perhaps a deeper understanding of authenticity emerges when it's understood not as absolute, but relative – a move away from the most filtered and constructed version of ourselves and a step closer to being in a comfortable state with our own imperfections.
Resisting the bland future
Another aspect of authenticity that online spaces could foster is a greater diversity of voices, especially those that have been traditionally excluded or marginalised. Digital platforms can help to democratize publishing and give opportunities for more people to share their stories. They can also help people connect across geographic divides. But for these benefits to fully materialize, we need social networks that aren’t only driven by the demands of advertisers and that don’t simply replicate the power dynamics we see in the offline world.
Algorithms are a powerful force shaping how we experience the internet and by extension how we behave in the physical world. When left unchecked, those forces tend to lead us toward greater sameness. They also encourage us to be constantly broadcasting ourselves, and constantly chasing after engagement and recognition from a virtual audience that exists primarily as data points. The relentless quest for internet points can often feel empty in the end, and ultimately can lead to a kind of flattening of the self. It’s hard to feel a sense of depth when you are constantly performing for others.
Embracing Uniqueness in the Age of AI and the Metaverse
However, that doesn’t mean we have to surrender to the algorithmic flattening – there are always ways to resist. For businesses, this might mean embracing a certain niche quality, or even a quirkiness that makes them unique to their place. It can also mean resisting trends that are too fleeting, and building something that lasts longer. For all of us on a personal level, resisting looks like being more critical and intentional about how we use our devices, spending less time scrolling and more time engaging directly.
The next few years will likely bring the increasing dominance of AI and virtual or augmented reality, creating more layers between us and the physical world. These technologies promise to make our lives more streamlined and efficient, but the cost +may be further homogenisation. The metaverse, as imagined by companies like Facebook’s parent company Meta, seems like a potentially dystopian outcome of the AirSpace trend. It's a vision where we spend more of our time living online and retreating even further from the messy, vibrant, and complicated world of embodied experience. This is a path we, as users and makers of these technologies, should actively question.
Embracing Offline Experiences in a Digital World
What can we do to resist this potential future? Continue seeking out those places and spaces that are havens from the relentless flattening of the global internet. Support your local bookstore, your local coffee shop, and your local artists by engaging with them both online and in real life. Spend more time offline, even if it means being a little less “connected.” Take walks in nature or learn a craft with your hands. These are not just ways to relax, but ways to reconnect with the world that exists beyond the screen. Ultimately, the antidote to algorithmically-induced blandness is about nurturing a complex, nuanced, and multifaceted life – and sharing it with those around you.
Embracing the weirdness
One way to resist the homogenizing pull of the internet is not to ignore it, but rather to actively subvert the algorithms. On Instagram and TikTok, creators have come up with clever ways to game the algorithm, either to boost visibility for important causes or simply to generate more likes. If you’ve ever seen a video on TikTok asking you to “like, comment and follow”, or with a caption like “don’t let this flop”, that’s an attempt to trick the algorithm into thinking a piece of content is more engaging than it may actually be. The platform will then promote it further, making it more likely to go viral. This tactic can work, sometimes. Yet, chasing internet virality is ultimately a game with diminishing returns.
An interesting new phenomenon is the rise of AI-generated art. These are images produced with text prompts input into artificial intelligence systems like DALL-E and Stable Diffusion. The results can be uncanny, dreamlike, and sometimes even beautiful or strange enough to subvert typical social media aesthetics entirely. The weirdness of AI art may actually be its advantage – it stands out among the sea of carefully curated photos and videos. In fact, creators who share the AI-generated art they make on social media are often rewarded with higher-than-average engagement, at least for now.
The Subversive Potential of AI Art and Video Essays
This kind of content can also be subversive on a deeper level, as it challenges our ideas about creativity, authenticity, and even what constitutes “art”. While human artists have long drawn inspiration from their dreams or altered states of consciousness, AI generators produce imagery that feels similarly uncanny and disjointed. Yet, there is no human behind the art, at least not in the traditional sense. The human input is the careful crafting of the text prompt, a little bit like writing a poem. Perhaps the future of digital art lies in collaborations between humans and machines. After all, AI image generators are simply tools, and the results they produce depend on who is using them.
Another form of subversion is to actively critique the platforms that shape our lives. On YouTube, a new genre of video has emerged over the past five years: the video essay. Often with runtimes exceeding an hour, these long-form videos feature creators delving deep into the hidden mechanics and biases of the popular internet platforms. Popular subjects include the rise and fall of defunct social networks, and critiques of the ways that platforms incentivize certain kinds of behaviour while demonetizing or penalizing others. A prime example is a video from Canadian creator Dan Olson titled “Line Goes Up: The Problem with NFTs”, which meticulously takes apart the flawed logic behind the recent NFT craze.
The power of small communities
While video essays can be entertaining to watch, they also have a higher, almost educational purpose. These videos don't just critique the platforms, they teach viewers the vocabulary to talk about them, in more specific and nuanced ways. Learning to understand algorithms and the ways that they manipulate us makes us more informed, and therefore better equipped to use those platforms to our own advantage, creatively or otherwise.
Smaller, niche online communities may provide an alternative to the monolithic experience of mainstream social media. Discord servers, Patreon subscriptions for creators, and more closed channels may feel less noisy and offer richer opportunities for actual connection. These spaces are also less driven by advertising and therefore potentially less beholden to the forces of homogenization. They can provide a sense of genuine community based on shared interests, rather than the generic mass audience targeted by algorithmic platforms.
Some internet users may discover that certain platforms feel better suited to their own personality than others. If you're a visual thinker who likes to share photographs, Instagram still has uses, even with its frustrating algorithmic churn. If you enjoy writing, there are newsletter services, like Substack, that offer creators more control and better ways to build a direct relationship with a smaller audience of subscribers. The key with any platform is finding the right balance between using it, and being used by it – and remembering that no single social media network needs to be all things at once.
The Shift Towards Decentralized Online Communities and Its Implications
Over the next few years, we may see a further decentralization of the internet, with more communities moving away from large-scale social media platforms and migrating to smaller, niche ones. While this can help users connect around specific interests, it also carries the risk of fragmenting the online space even further. In the early days of the internet, communities were built around forums and smaller websites, and there was a greater sense that everything was interconnected through links. The rise of social media created a more consolidated digital space, making it harder for independent websites and smaller forums to compete. It also made it easier to spread misinformation through closed channels where users don’t engage with opposing views. Any moves towards further decentralization should be done strategically to maximize the potential for fostering strong connections, while also minimizing the potential for harmful siloing.
The internet is still in its youthful phases of development. The platforms that dominate today may fall out of fashion as their users grow tired of them, or as they are replaced by new technologies offering greater capabilities or more democratic governance models.
Image Credit - Medium
Beyond the algorithm
The relentless homogenization of our online and physical spaces is driven by a number of complex forces. There's a basic human desire for belonging, which social networks exploit, feeding us content that reflects what we already like in order to keep us hooked. Algorithms tap into our desire to be seen and validated. They also tap into our anxieties, fueling FOMO and making it feel as though we need to keep up with the latest trends, or risk being left behind. Meanwhile, businesses and individuals alike feel an almost desperate need to stay visible in the algorithmic feed. It adds a layer of stress and competition to the simple act of existing.
The algorithm itself is a neutral force – it simply follows instructions. What matters is the data it's fed and the purposes to which it's applied. The relentless flattening we see on mainstream social media is an emergent property of platforms incentivizing shallow forms of engagement. But there are many applications for algorithms other than selling advertising space. And we know that algorithms can be used to promote educational content, or to help solve complex problems. They can be used for good, or they can be used to make our lives more stressful – the choices we make are what matters most.
Balancing Digital Engagement
This isn't to suggest that simply resisting or rejecting technology is a productive stance. The solution isn't about going “offline” entirely, even if that were remotely possible. It's about finding healthier and more sustainable ways of interacting with the digital world. That includes using it less often, or at least using it intentionally. Spending more time interacting with real people in real places is crucial as well. The antidote to a life lived online isn't necessarily to reject the internet entirely, but to ensure that you have a life that extends beyond the screen – one that is rich and meaningful.
Ultimately, a good life isn't about perfectly replicating what you see on social media. Algorithms are not capable of telling us what actually brings us joy. They can't give us a sense of purpose or tell us what makes us feel truly connected to the people around us. In fact, it's important to recognize that the algorithmic flattening process actually obscures the things that make us unique, leading to greater dissatisfaction on an individual level.
The future of the internet may lie in a move away from homogeneity towards greater personalization. In the current moment, recommendation algorithms operate by tracking and classifying our behaviour into neatly defined categories, then feeding us similar, targeted content.
Crafting Personalized Digital Experiences and Fostering Serendipitous Connections
But what if they could be more nuanced, taking into account our current moods and contexts? Instead of being shown more of the same, we could be presented with something that gently pushes the boundaries of our taste, perhaps introducing us to a new interest, or even something we previously rejected or overlooked. Imagine an algorithmically curated playlist of songs that includes old favourites but also some unexpected choices to expand our musical horizons - a kind of gentle push toward growth and discovery.
There's also the potential for platforms that truly foster the kind of serendipitous connections that were promised in the early days of the internet. This would mean platforms whose algorithms are not primarily geared toward selling advertising but are rather designed to connect people based on shared niche interests. They would encourage deep conversation, slow down the pace, and perhaps even nudge us to engage beyond the confines of the platform – to meet up in person or collaborate on a creative project.
Of course, it’s unlikely that any of the major platforms we use will transform overnight. But the demand for something different is there. This demand could drive the growth of new platforms, or it could force older platforms to adapt.
Conclusion
The internet is not static. The way we use social media today may look very different in five or ten years. As users, we have more power than we realize. Our individual choices matter, and collectively they create a kind of pressure. Every time we seek out something authentic or resist the lure of homogeneity, it creates a tiny ripple within the algorithmic feed. Perhaps one day, those ripples will grow into a wave of change.
It's important to be skeptical of any technological solutionism. There is no app or algorithm that can fix the deeper societal ills of loneliness, isolation, and existential ennui. But platforms can be designed to mitigate or exacerbate these issues. There’s potential for technology to serve better purposes than simply selling products or driving engagement. The real value of any online community is found in its members, in the sum of the contributions, and the relationships that form as a result. Those are the things that no algorithm can replace.
