Anticuration Goes Mainstream
From the Library of Quick Study, July 2024
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A few quotes from June 2024 that were collected into our library of resources:
Consensus: “Algorithms = Bad.”
Have you noticed, everyone's talking about taste?
The knives are out for feeds right now, at least if you follow smart thinkers and writers that I’ve discovered over the years through my… feeds. And that’s sort of the conundrum for all of us, isn’t it? Judging by this recent burst of meta algorithmic discussions, people are more aware of how the algorithms and feeds have been weaponized for engagement, not enjoyment. But at the same time, there remains a dearth of alternatives for discovery, partially because the major players that were first to the social media and tech space keep buying up their on-the-rise competitors before they can truly become competition. What is a population of internet addicts to do?
Last year, we clocked this growing discontent and labeled the early responses to it as a form of anticuration. Since then, acts of anticuration have gone mainstream. “Photo dump” context-less carousels on Instagram are bigger than ever, our trend-naming obsession has accelerated, and AI’s continued seep into our daily consumption habits has left folks with a bitter taste in their mouths.
Despite these dabblings, a normal person’s full escape into a world of anticuration remains aspirational at best. In June, Matt Klein wrote that “The only thing objectively cooler than a highly-followed curator exhibiting their top picks is simply having your own opinion.” This is true in theory, but in practice, who has the time for it? Is it realistic to expect people to quit their curated world cold turkey? The reality is that most people – even if they feel this friction – don’t have the time, the energy, or the power to go full anti. (Not to mention, do we want a fully uncurated world? That feels dangerously similar to the “do your own research” mentality and I don’t feel like empowering more flat-earthers.)
Instead of a black & white choice, perhaps we should instead view curation as a scale - one that currently is leaning too far toward the choices of others & technology and lacking enough of our individual inputs. Each additional moment of friction we can put between us and our overly curated world shifts the scales back in favor of individuals. But too much friction, and the connective tissue that forms as a benefit of curation will fray, and frayed connective tissue is something we’re dealing with enough already. It may not sound as exciting to say “tip the scales back toward yourself in moderation,” but sometimes the best recourse isn’t outright quitting but instead continuing to push just a little bit. Over time, a little bit can add up.
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The Other 90 is written by Rob Engelsman, a former baby model and now Cofounder & Strategy Partner at Quick Study. To find out more about how we help brands and agencies get to smarter plans faster, email hello@quick.study. You can also find Quick Study on LinkedIn.