💾 Archived View for tilde.pink › ~covetedfish › gemlog › s_and_the_recommendation_engines.gmi captured on 2023-06-14 at 14:50:56. Gemini links have been rewritten to link to archived content
⬅️ Previous capture (2023-01-29)
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From an email to C:
I have been thinking a lot about the connection between recommendation engines and my relationship with S. Last night, my phone autocorrected the name cimillo to s**** (S's last name) and something clicked for me. So many bits and pieces of my friend are still stored forever on the web.
After S died, I listed to her Spotify playlists for hours on end. Once I stopped, I began to notice that her tastes were bleeding into my song recommendations. It provided a lot of comfort-- as if S were alive and showing me new music. Even after 2 years, her tastes are still reflected in my playlists. In some ways, the Spotify algorithm knows her more intimately than I ever knew her (and in those ways it is keeping her alive).
In any case, I see a little bit of irony in my recent foray into the small web. I keep thinking about how interested S would have been in the things I am discovering. In some sense, by separating myself from the algorithms that manipulate my life, I will be honoring her. But, in another sense, I will also be turning my back on her (at least the parts of her that are still owned by social media giants).