How I Accidentally Stepped Off the Algorithm

For the past month or so, I have been on a digital declutter. I only realized this today, because this was not something I planned. I guess it just happened.

I think it all started after buying the ModRetro Chromatic about two months ago. I wanted a handheld console to play old games—you know, like Super Mario Bros.—on a device that can be easily turned on and off without having to log in to an online account or deal with in-app purchases. I love playing games on this thing. I didn't have a Game Boy growing up, but I had a Nintendo console, and this took me right back to my childhood. I was very surprised to get such a distraction-free experience.

After that, I started looking into more options for physical media. Spotify was another app that I never really used. I pulled out my old AV receiver, which had been collecting dust for a few years, and plugged in my phone. I forgot how good the audio sounds through proper speakers. This took me down another rabbit hole of CDs vs. vinyl. I decided to purchase a dedicated CD player and got a couple of my favorite albums. Again, I was amazed by the even better sound quality. The experience was also different: even though the music is digitally encoded, there's a physical ritual of taking the CD out of the case, turning on the player, and putting it in. And then, listening to an album from front to back. I was reminded of simpler times when algorithms weren't in control of what you consume.

The next thing I started doing was buying one or two movies every month. Currently, my picks are mostly from The Criterion Collection. Yet again, it brings a similar satisfaction of picking a movie, going through the process of playing the disc, and watching all the bonus features.

Interacting with physical media somehow makes me appreciate the act of listening to music or watching a film much more than before.

I left Twitter, now X, around 2017. About a year ago I tried to return, but there was just too much noise. Recently I started using Mastodon. I'll tell you this: it's very refreshing not seeing bots, ads, or endless algorithmic hype. So far, I'm liking it a lot.

I have a love-hate relationship with YouTube. On the one hand, it's great for curated content, but by default you get recommendations that easily turn into doomscrolling. I recently discovered that you can turn off and clear your watch history. When you do that, your homepage becomes empty and you no longer get recommendations. You have to go back to basics and actively seek what you want to watch via search or your subscriptions. This was such a life hack; it essentially stopped me from wasting time on YouTube.

So this is where I am today:

• Mostly playing full albums through a CD player, re-listening to the same albums over and over.
• Expanding my movie collection by getting 1–2 high-quality movies a month.
• Finding interesting people on Mastodon, the same way I did on Twitter in the early 2010s.

I'm not sure if I'll end up in a better place or not, but one thing I know is that it's definitely quieter. There are fewer things being pushed to me, I feel like I have real ownership over the media I enjoy, and I have less dependency on platforms.