The algorithm is boring — here's how to escape it

Everyone's feed looks the same. Time to break free and find the weird, wonderful corners of the internet again.

Scroll through any social media feed and you'll notice something depressing: it all looks the same. The same formats, the same hooks, the same recycled takes optimized for engagement.

The algorithm has flattened culture into a beige paste of engagement-optimized content. But there's a whole internet out there beyond the feed — and it's more interesting than ever.

Algorithmic feeds optimize for engagement, not enlightenment. They show you what you will click, not what you will remember.

But the internet was not always like this. There was a time when discovering something online felt like finding a hidden bookshop in a foreign city.

So how do we get that feeling back? Start by building your own feed. RSS readers, newsletters, bookmarks, small community forums — these are the tools of the curious.