Who is better to choose what we consume in culture

It is a paradox in the heart of our current abundance: we never had both access to so many songs, books, movies and seriesS, but we rarely know where to start or what is worth it.

We are in a virtual dictatorship of the recommendation algorithms, which bring us closer to what is similar to what we already liked, limiting our experiences and flattening culture. It is time to revalue and rescue human curators.

For centuries, the role of curators has been to organize and make sense of culture. While it is what we paradigmatically link with museums and galleries, the truth is that There have always been those who leaked and structured large amounts of content in something coherent and understandable For more people.

For those who lived the twentieth century, that function was also fulfilled by the FM musicalizersthe good booksellers who knew their clients and recommended those titles that knew they were going to like and those who attended in the old neighborhood video clubs and suggested beyond the premieres of the month.

Today, the overabundance of information and materials makes this guide more important than ever.

That is the thesis of the American journalist and writer Kyle Chayka, who in his book Filterworld He argues that Recommendation algorithms They are interfering not only in the construction of personal taste, but could flatten culture.

Now what We spend more and more time on platforms As Tik-Tok, Spotify, Netflix and Instagram, the large amount of content available many times overwhelms us and paralyzes.

That is why we usually fall into those things that are presented to us as “personal recommendations” and are determined based on our behavior in the past and the habits of other users similar to us.

In addition to impoverishing personal experience with art, this new form of Consume culture It seems to reward homogeneity over novelty and disruption.

The great volume of series and songs that are successful today simply because they repeat patterns that make them easily digestible and very attractivepunishes more challenging forms of cultural expression or aimed at a niche audience.

And it is not only about audiovisual titles, since we can say the same of the interior decoration trends tyrannated by Pinterest boards; factor garments fast fashion created from trends in Tiktok and gastronomic premises that are not only decorated thinking of social networks but also looking for dishes with some aesthetics in their appearance.

Thus, in a world overpopulated of content and objects designed to please, we must return to the figure of human curators, who can Find musical notes between noisethe singularity between the algorithmic rules and the course in the chaos of abundance.

They do not have to be exceptional people, but they can be a new and necessary type of influencerthat can replenish the lost context, build valuable narratives and highlight that different and is worth it.