Spotify Wrapped, TikTok—Maybe the Algorithms Are Losing Touch

“The Package” is less about one person’s surprising listening habits and more about vague shifts in atmosphere. Yes, a lot of people have been listening to Chappell Roan and Kendrick Lamar this year. Is anyone a little surprised?

But this isn’t just a Spotify problem. Many platforms now offer year-in-review summaries, almost all of which evoke a collective shrug. On TikTok, company tout Its users are very interested in modesty and like Moo Deng very much. Yes, no joke. These revelations are as shocking as the facts about 1.2 million people booktok Posts are published in the first 10 months of each year, and anyone who has ever opened the app will probably tell you that this is an important part of the platform.

While reading its annual report, I was reminded that perhaps TikTok’s algorithm is too good at pointing people in the direction of what’s bound to be popular, and not so good at loading FYP with videos that people will find very creative or engaging.

In other unsurprising news, sexual desire is Big names on Grindr This year. The hookup app’s Unwrapped report also named Charli XCX Mother of the Year and found the sex position of the year to be missionary. In fact, maybe it’s surprising. At least that’s the case with Grindr.

My final thought, though, comes from (I don’t think) an algorithm-based year-end pillar: Oxford University Press’s Word of the Year. Judging by popular votes, expert opinion and, as Casper Grathwohl, director of Oxford Languages ​​School, told the New York Times, and a bit of “dark arts,” this year’s word is… clamor… … “brain rot”. Well, you know, spending too much time looking at stupid stuff online can lead to degradation.

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First of all, yes, it is two words. Secondly, other people also noticed this differenceproving that perhaps all of the internet’s beloved end-of-year traditions are feeling the heat of social media scrutiny this year. “Brain rot” also beat out the common topics on BookTok, “modesty” and “romance.” So, ultimately, maybe algorithms do affect this, too, just not in the way you might think. Maybe the real brain rot is all the decisions we make along the way.