Who Has Better Taste in Content: Your Friend or the Algorithm?
In an article for Business Insider, writer Drew Austin explores how streaming services like Netflix and Spotify use algorithms to recommend new content, but nothing beats the human touch.
Did you discover your new favorite band on your own — or did an online algorithm plant it in front of you? And does it matter if you find it organically or as the result of a larger marketing scheme?
Those are the questions that writer Drew Austin explores in “Algorithms were supposed to make finding new music and movies a breeze — but they actually suck. Turns out nothing beats the human touch,” as part of his Business Insider tech column. Austin also writes about cities, technology and culture for his weekly newsletter Kneeling Bus.
He writes about a conversation he had with a friend about the algorithm and how it seemed to be off the mark. According to Austin, his friend summed up tastemaking, saying, “The way you find out what’s cool is someone cooler than you telling you what’s cool.”
That line stuck with him. Today, “… We do have really sophisticated algorithms telling us what we like all the time, but the ultimate source of your own taste is people around you,” he says.
“The way you find out what’s cool is someone cooler than you telling you what’s cool. … We do have really sophisticated algorithms telling us what we like all the time, but the ultimate source of your own taste is people around you.” — Drew Austin, writer
Listen: Drew Austin talks about algorithms versus personal recommendations when it comes to discovering new music and movies.
Trusted, accurate, up-to-date.
WDET strives to make our journalism accessible to everyone. As a public media institution, we maintain our journalistic integrity through independent support from readers like you. If you value WDET as your source of news, music and conversation, please make a gift today.
