Curating taste in the age of the algorithm
A reminder to get intentional about what you're consuming
Over the past few weeks, I’ve made a major realization: I’m consuming crappy content.
It feels akin to the Hemingway quote on going bankrupt: “Gradually, then suddenly.”
In order to do my job well (which is to write on the internet), I feel like I have to actively participate in the internet. That means I need to stay active and relevant on platforms like LinkedIn and X. I need to keep a pulse on trends happening on TikTok (the 2 hour scrolling sessions before bed is another conversation for another day.)
I’ve also been in the process of building my own business over the past two years and it has involved a LOT of self-educating. So I’ve curated a feed of tweets, podcasts, articles, YouTube, books, etc that are feeding me a constant source of educational content.
So far it’s served a major purpose: I’ve learned how to build and run a business, I’ve learned how to freelance more sustainably, and I’ve learned more about the world through the industries and clients that I work with.
But in an effort to constantly educate myself, I’ve slowly lost the creative spark.
I miss reading an article and wanting to sit with the ideas it presents for an hour or share with a friend to start a conversation. I miss the thrill of reading a great book whose character really speaks to me. (And not because they are telling me 10 ways to increase my revenue this month.)
It also speaks to my notions of productivity: why listen to an hour podcast on something interesting or entertaining when I could use that hour to learn a new skill or a new topic.
And yet I know one thing to be true about productivity, especially as a creative — not every hour needs to be a productive hour.
The times you spend walking, dreaming, cooking, sitting, talking all inherently influence the work you produce and the ideas you create. You have to let things sit in your head, roll around, get space to breathe.
What is taste in the age of internet and AI?
Ezra Klein has covered this topic in his podcast The Ezra Klein Show in these two episodes. They both touch on how to discover your own taste in the age of the internet when content is being shoved at you. How can you discern the good and the great? How can you find your own places of inspiration?
🎙️ This Conversation Made Me a Sharper Editor
🎙️ How to Discover Your Own Taste
I think the answer is great curation. When we are bombarded with constant information, we need more curators to seperate quality things from the noise. Especially when AI starts to infiltrate more of what we are reading and learning from, I think it’s even more important to have a filter on what we are consuming.
I’ve been toiling with the idea of bringing back this newsletter as my way of curating insightful, inspiring, conversation-sparking content. A strict antidote to the FYP page.
I’ve realized that as the social media algorithms have changed over the past few years I’ve stopped discovering great (mostly long-form content). Social media is serving me up short-form dopamine hits (which I unfortunately respond to).
But I want to challenge myself and readers to go against the grain. The first step is awareness: what are you consuming and why?
If you could be 100% intentional about the content you’re consuming — what changes would you make?
For me it would be a lot less meaningless short-form junk on social media and more long-form content, interviews and ideas that make me feel something or think about the world differently. After all, isn’t that the entire purpose of storytelling?
I’ve been asking my network where they are finding great pieces of longform and here’s what I’ve found so far:
So welcome to my cabinet of curiosities — where I’ll be sharing where I’m finding ideas and inspiration from my little corner of the world. 🔮
I’d love to hear your recommendations for ways you discover great content outside of your social algorithms. Let me know in the comments.