Adapted by:
Javier Lacort
Senior WriterI write long-form content at Xataka about the intersection between technology, business and society. I also host the daily Spanish podcast Loop infinito (Infinite Loop), where we analyze Apple news and put it into perspective.
Alba Mora
WriterAn established tech journalist, I entered the world of consumer tech by chance in 2018. In my writing and translating career, I've also covered a diverse range of topics, including entertainment, travel, science, and the economy.
Serendipity is described as that valuable discovery that occurs while you’re looking for something else. Unfortunately, it’s on the verge of extinction when it comes to the Internet. Recommendation algorithms are becoming increasingly precise and have trapped users in convenient yet sterile bubbles. We no longer “surf” the Internet as we once did, and that’s the problem.
I think back to my teenage years in the early 2000s. One night, while listening to the radio, I heard something I hadn’t heard before. It wasn’t melancholic commercial pop nor was it the first reggaeton hits. It was Beck’s E-Pro.
Those four minutes changed my perception of music. Today, it may not seem extraordinary. However, at that moment, it sparked in me a desire to explore a genre I had never encountered before. It was an accident, a fortuitous collision with something I would never have actively sought out because I didn’t even know it existed. It simply reached my ears.
As I use Spotify, which suggests songs precisely tailored to my declared and inferred tastes, I wonder where those transformative accidents are for today’s teenagers.
It’s a paradox. The more sophisticated technology becomes at “knowing” us, the less opportunity we have to discover anything truly new. Our algorithms confuse relevance with familiarity, presenting users with barely perceptible variations of what they already consume. Platforms today are designed to hold our attention rather than to expand our horizons.
When was the last time you stumbled upon something genuinely unexpected in your feed? Not just something related to your usual interests, but something entirely new and jarring that made you rethink your ideas and broaden your tastes?
The digital explorers of the past, who navigated from hyperlink to hyperlink, have been replaced by passive consumers swiping through an endless stream of precalculated content. In their quest for refinement, algorithms have eliminated friction, which in turn has stifled the generative spark of disagreement. This isn’t good news.
Ironically, this algorithmic refinement comes at a time when we need divergent thinking the most. Real innovation alters paradigms rather than merely optimizing what already exists. It arises from unexpected connections and the collision of disparate ideas.
Silicon Valley was built on serendipity. Writer Stewart Brand found inspiration in Native American culture to create the Whole Earth Catalog, while Apple founder Steve Jobs was captivated by calligraphy, which profoundly influenced the design and essence of the Mac. Even the concept of hypertext emerged from the analogy of how the human mind works: not linearly, but through unexpected associations.
It’s not just a matter of innovation. It’s also a matter of civic health. In the past, physical newspapers forced readers to turn pages and encounter opinions that were often discordant with their own. Now, platforms like Google’s Discover do the filtering for us.
Today, our feeds are so finely tuned that you can go months without encountering an idea that truly challenges your convictions. Algorithms, in their eagerness to maximize your engagement, only present what confirms your existing beliefs (or what incites you the most in the case of platforms like X).
This overspecialization of digital consumption has led to a peculiar phenomenon. Despite having unprecedented access to information, our mental worlds are becoming increasingly narrow. Variety is sacrificed for a personalized experience. It’s telling that some of the most influential figures behind these technologies choose not to let their own children use them.
We’re moving toward an Internet where every click is premeditated, where the next recommendation is reliably interesting. In the name of efficiency, we’re sacrificing the delightful digital clutter. Like junk DNA in our genome, digital clutter could contain the seed of the next great innovation or discoveries that might profoundly influence the way we consume culture for the rest of our lives.
I wonder how many groundbreaking concepts in music–like Beck’s innovative tracks–today’s teenagers are missing out on. They’re trapped in algorithmically perfect but creatively sterile content loops.
Perhaps it’s time to demand the right to digital serendipity. We should ask whether we want an Internet that knows us all too well or one that can still surprise us.
Image | Sergey Zolkin
Related | Introverts of the World, We’re Taking Back the Internet
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