In the beginning,
we are full of potential.
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In the beginning,
we are full of potential.
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1991: The launch of the World Wide Web by Tim Berners-Lee made information more accessible to a global audience.
1995: The launch of Amazon and eBay marked the beginning of e-commerce and the digital marketplace.
1998: Google is founded, changing the way information is indexed and retrieved.
In the early 90’s, the World Wide Web began to take shape.
A Single Bud Grows
1991
1998
2007: The release of the iPhone marks the start of the mobile internet age, which further entrenches algorithmic-driven content curation, apps, and recommendations.
2006: Twitter launches, and social media platforms become increasingly algorithm-driven, determining which posts users see based on engagement metrics.
2004: Facebook launches, bringing social networking to a global audience. Social media algorithms begin to shape how people interact with content.
In the early 2000's, the internet experienced a platform boom.
A Garden Blooms
2004
2008
2007: The release of the iPhone marks the start of the mobile internet age, which further entrenches algorithmic-driven content curation, apps, and recommendations.
2006: Twitter launches, and social media platforms become increasingly algorithm-driven, determining which posts users see based on engagement metrics.
2004: Facebook launches, bringing social networking to a global audience. Social media algorithms begin to shape how people interact with content.
In the early 2000's, the internet experienced a platform boom.
A Garden Blooms
2010: The growth of Google's search algorithm becomes more refined, with a heavy emphasis on relevance, rankings, and SEO, leading to the prioritization of certain types of information.
2011: The introduction of the "EdgeRank" algorithm by Facebook begins to prioritize posts in users' feeds based on engagement metrics, initiating a shift toward personalized, algorithmically curated content.
2016: The proliferation of algorithmic curation in social media platforms intensifies. Facebook's algorithm promotes "clickbait" content, leading to the spread of misinformation.
"Filter Bubbles" confirm internet users' existing beliefs by creating echo chambers that reinforce homogenous beliefs and ideas.
Search engines begin indexing the web and ranking websites based on relevance and link popularity.
The Scaffolding
2010
2015
2018: The Cambridge Analytica scandal reveals the ways in which data analytics and social media algorithms were used to manipulate political opinions and elections.
2020: Platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube amplify certain types of content based on engagement rather than content quality or diversity.
2021: The introduction of increasingly advanced AI and machine learning algorithms further intensifies the role of algorithms in everyday life, driving corporate interests and influencing user behavior.
Today, algorithmically amplified content dominates at the expense of nuance, diversity and depth.
As algorithmic scaffolding takes hold, our patterns solidify and we are flattened.
Our capacity to be curious, interested, inquisitive, and moved is depleted.
The scaffolding may be complex, but the response is simple.
The first step is remembering. Curiosity, creativity, and play were never lost — only buried under noise.
What has been flattened can regain dimension.
By creating with intention, we make space for difference, for depth, for perspective.
Build what matters.
Reflect what is real - your ideas, your work, your world.
Sources
Chayka, Kyle. Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture. Doubleday, 2024.
This site was made for Wix Weblab 2025 in NYC.
This website & sound design was created by Adrienne Cassel.
To get the full story, view on desktop.
This website & sound design was created by Adrienne Cassel.
Sources
Chayka, Kyle. Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture. Doubleday, 2024.
This site was made for Wix Weblab 2025 in NYC.
