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brittbat's review against another edition
4.0
Filterworld for me feels like a presentation of thoughts similar to ones I've already had, with the benefit of gathering them all together and providing anecdotes and data I didn't have. Sometimes distillation is as valuable as revelation, and I feel that this is a valuable read. It helped me make a small jump from thinking about how shallow and fragmented culture feels to reflecting on the passivity with which I consume that fragmented culture and what options there are for breaking free. (Mostly by being intentional about what we consume and how and by leaning into human curation.)
After reading Stolen Focus last year, I felt some doomerism about social media. That doomerism isn't entirely gone, but Filterworld made me feel like perhaps I can at least take some control of how I interact with it. It's making me want to take a 3-month algorithm detox and see what happens.
After reading Stolen Focus last year, I felt some doomerism about social media. That doomerism isn't entirely gone, but Filterworld made me feel like perhaps I can at least take some control of how I interact with it. It's making me want to take a 3-month algorithm detox and see what happens.
heeledastronaut's review against another edition
4.0
I think that there is a lot of useful discussion in this book about the affects of algorithms and the homogeneity of the modern internet. I think some of that discussion is lost in the constant rambling of the author, going on tangent after tangent - especially when coffee shops are mentioned. The deep look into the subject matter was excellent, the book should have been 33% shorter.
benkbturner's review against another edition
5.0
Kyle’s writing, in all its venues, has meant a great deal to me for a very long time. He gives words to the thoughts I didn’t think could be put to paper, and he does so with care, reflectiveness and a deep perceptiveness. This book feels like the beautiful byproduct of so much of his writing over the past few years, weaving together observations and experiences about the internet, culture, art, design and human beings. Sometimes, the conclusions he arrives at feel somewhat obvious: for instance, we should be more intentional about how we curate our own taste. But this “obviousness” betrays a radical, humanistic reminder: we are what we consume and if we do so a little bit less online and with some love, maybe we too can be the better for it.