Algorithmic personalization erodes the shared public space that allows surprise

Evidence

What is lacking in the age of Myspace is the public space that could surprise or confound our understanding of ourselves. Where, today, is the equivalent of the Top of the Pops stage, which could suddenly be invaded by the unexpected? Ironically, it is something such as The X Factor; the campaign to get Rage Against the Machine to the Christmas number-one slot was evidence of a hunger for music that was not just entertainment. — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 1287

Categorization

• XREF: Directly parallels the later filter-bubble and algorithmic-curation critique; Fisher’s piece arguably anticipates it. — connects to: Algorithmic personalization fragments viewing into solipsistic echo chambers that block encounter with the other — Anna Kornbluh, Immediacy, or The Style of Too Late…, 209; Internet personalization fragments common knowledge into a billion oppositional realities — W. David Marx, Blank Space: A Cultural History of the…, 492; Shared attention builds a collective rather than merely private reality — Yves Citton, The Ecology of Attention, 121 (+5 more)
• SEED: The ‘public space of surprise’ framing is a reusable lens for essays on algorithmic culture — what replaced shared broadcast moments like Top of the Pops.

Broader Connections

• Algorithmic personalization fragments viewing into solipsistic echo chambers that block encounter with the other #corroborates (0.92) — Anna Kornbluh, Immediacy, or The Style of Too Late…, 209
• Algorithmic feeds convert the open Internet into personalized echo chambers #corroborates (0.90) — Lee McIntyre, Post-Truth, 192
• Internet personalization fragments common knowledge into a billion oppositional realities #corroborates (0.88) — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 492
• Algorithm-curated friendship narrows one’s social world into a self-reinforcing echo #corroborates (0.88)
• Shared attention builds a collective rather than merely private reality #corroborates (0.80) — Yves Citton, The Ecology of Attention, 121
• Individual attention selection spontaneously aligns people into shared communities of sensibility #contradicts (0.80) — Yves Citton, The Ecology of Attention, 110
• Attention extraction shapes even our intimate access to other people #expands (0.75) — The Friends of Attention, Attensity!, 43