The flattening effect of Algorithms are visible everywhere and limits individual agency, according to the book Filterworld of Kyle Chayka. As a qualitative researcher this raises the question if it still makes sense to talk to people or just rather focus on understanding algorithms and use smart AI analysis to understand needs and behaviors?
There was an interesting discussion on this topic recently in the daily talk show Op1. Key take out: algorithms mess with your mind and strongly influence your interests and decision making. And intriguingly it does not only steer you to the content you see or the music you play, it is also visible in real life, on the streets, all around us.
Some of these things are quite innocent, like long lines in the 9 Straatjes in Amsterdam, where a few food stores are so popular, they need security to ensure you do not eat your chips or cookies in front of the shop windows next door. Or think about all those herringbone floors and black metal interior doors in houses all over the world. Or how interiors look in advertising for furniture, paint, kitchens, and accessories (no you do not need to put that wooden ladder to the wall and drape a cloth over it).
Other effects of social media algorithms are more worrisome, like young girls being primed with a perfect appearance. Girls under 10 talking about moisturizers and serums, teenage girls who do not dare to leave the house before a few layers of make-up. Increase of anorexia and depression among teenage girls. Social media is not making their life easier, puberty is difficult enough without algorithms making it worse.
Remarkably the most negative effects which are highlighted in media are mostly about girls and not boys (or they did not reach me). As a mom of 2 boys, I know they are also influenced, but that seems not too harmful. They watch brainless influencers playing games or viewing YouTube videos on YouTube. They want to bake many recipes with Oreo cookies, only wear white Nikes and off course have an AirUp bottle like the rest of their classes. Probably there is lots more they are influenced with that I even are not aware of, mostly in the sense of stuff they want to buy.
Returning to the area of understanding people. Do we only need to scrape social media to understand what is going on (not via your own log in, where you will only see your own bubble)? Do we know GenZ if we look at the socials? Maybe so, especially if you include some real-life observations, because we can see what is going viral all around us. And the question why they do it might be easier than we thought: ‘I saw it on social media’.
And maybe another research mantra also needs to be reinvestigated: Communication does not travel. But worldwide you do see the same beauty ideals, interiors, coffee shops, sneakers, and hypes. So maybe it does travel, you just need to get into the right algorithms?
The optimist in me says that people are stronger than this and we will learn how to deal with this world of AI, algorithms, and big tech. And underneath the surface we are still humans with our own needs, feelings, and dreams. Isn’t that much more interesting to understand than how to win the AI battle and brainwash society with algorithms? For me at least it is.
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