The Phantom of the Algorithm ft. Kyle Chayka

This week we are joined by Kyle Chaka, contributor to the New York Times and co-founder of Dirt, a newsletter about digital culture, to discuss how the algorithm on social media sites invisibly shapes the language, content, and even posting styles most prevalent. We use the example of Instagram's current insane attempt to become Tiktok 2 by pushing hard for a more video-based content economy, and how this is affecting the average user.

We also discuss Kyle's excellent article about 'Algorithmic Anxiety', the constant looming terror that one day the algorithm could just simply change, destroying an up-and-coming influencer's career unless they make drastic changes to their content to optimise it to an ever-shifting and never-explained standard. It's a great chat that actually ends on a hopeful note!

Kyle can be found at https://twitter.com/chaykak

Dirt can be found at https://twitter.com/dirtxyz

and the article discussed in this episode can be found at https://www.newyorker.com/culture/infinite-scroll/the-age-of-algorithmic-anxiety

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Ten Thousand Posts is a show about how everything is posting. It's hosted by Hussein (@HKesvani), Phoebe (@PRHRoy) and produced by Devon (@Devon_onEarth).