Forthright comedian Keith Farnan advises you to break free of Google's algorithms when choosing your comedy.
Chances are you’re reading this article on an iPad or a laptop and there’s all sorts of zingy little ads around the border of what you’re trying to concentrate on. If you’re using Google Chrome, then you feel comforted by these zingy little ads as they’ve all been designed with you in mind. That’s right, Google’s algorithms are doing all they can to make you feel like the perfectly formed snowflake you know you are.
It’s not easy though, doing this. They may have to take a tiny little peak into your Gmail emails when they’re sent or, if you don’t have a Gmail account, just whenever you mail someone who does. Your preferences for various comedians and comedy types are constantly being appreciated by a wonderfully complex algorithm. I wish I had the time to explain exactly what an algorithm is, but I’m just hoping that when the algorithm sees this, it will advertise evening courses in coding.
The joy of algorithms and cookies monitoring your web browsing and preferences means that ads will be tailored to you. If you like X, then here’s X, and someone who we think is very like X. It’s quite something to be damned by faint praise from an algorithm that decides to compare you to another comedian who may be vaguely similar.
The benefits are enormous for data-mining companies, as they can control trends instead of becoming a victim of them. 'Victim' is such a harsh word when talking about trends but if someone/something just keeps recommending comedians that are like other comedians you already like, you’ll never see anything different. You will remain smugly confident that your choices are in line with societal trends and that you are constantly being vindicated travelling the merry-go-round of slightly similar comic types. You are not an audience member. You are a victim.
Free yourself. Don’t go to anything recommended to you by an algorithm. Robots don’t know you. Do they?
Keith Farnan: Anonymous, Underbelly Cowgate, Aug 6-30 (not 18, 25), 6pm.