What happens if you like everything on Facebook? Disaster. By Mat Honan
There’s a great Andy Warhol quote you’ve probably seen: “I think everybody should like everybody.” You can buy posters and plates with pictures of Warhol and that phrase plastered across his face in Helvetica. But when you view Warhol’s quip in its full context, from a 1963 interview in ARTnews, it is just as much a prescient description of how weinteract on social media today as it is a definition of pop art.
Warhol: Everybody looks alike and acts alike, and we’re getting more and more that way. I think everybody should be a machine. I think everybody should like everybody.
ARTnews: Is that what pop art is all about?
Warhol: Yes. It’s liking things.
ARTnews: And liking things is like being a machine?
Warhol: Yes, because you do the same thing every time. You do it over and over again.
This sounds a lot like Facebook, where the default response is a ‘like’. New job? Like. ASOS has 10 per cent off with free shipping today only? Like. Bedbugs? Oh, I’m so sorry. Like. By putting that binary option on everything it shows us, Facebook encourages us to be really efficient, Warholesque liking machines. And every like informs Facebook’s algorithm, which uses that data to feed you more stuff it thinks you will like. By that logic, the more you like, the more you will like, in an ever-escalating spiral of satisfaction. To follow that to its logical end, in Facebook’s perfect world we would like everything we see – from status updates to news stories to ads. If its algorithm truly works as intended, we shouldn’t be able to stop ourselves from liking all the stuff it shows us.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der August 2016-Ausgabe von GQ India.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der August 2016-Ausgabe von GQ India.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
THE FUTURE SOUNDS LIKE AT EEZ
The Coachella-slaying, multi-language-singing, genre-obliterating members of Ateez are quickly becoming load-bearing stars of our global pop universe.
DEMNA UNMASKED
He's the most influential designer of the past decade. He's also the most controversial. Now the creative director of Balenciaga is exploring a surprising source of inspiration: happiness. GQ's Samuel Hine witnesses the dawn of Demna's new era, in Paris, New York, and Shanghai. Photographs by Jason Nocito.
Inside the undercover adventures of a full-time fraud sleuth.
HOW TO MAKE A FORTUNE AS A PROFESSIONAL WHISTLE-BLOWER
A LIFE OF FASHION
In an extensive conversation, the menswear icon discusses his rise, his mistakes, his triumphs, his retirement, and what the future holds for him and his beloved brand.
IN THE SOUTH OF FRANCE WITH GEORGE & BRAD
They've spent three decades living intertwined lives at the inconceivably glamorous height of Hollywood. Now, having crossed the threshold of 60, they're more comfortable than ever throwing bombs, dispensing hard-won wisdom, and, yes, arguing about who had the better mullet in the '80s.
ALEXANDER THE GRITTY
One of India's most creative chefs comes of age.
Penning History
Montblanc marks 100 years of its iconic Meisterstück with new writing instruments inspired by the 1924 Olympic Games.
Royal Enfield Forges a New Path
Say hello to the company's most cutting-edge roadster.
Arooj Aftab Owns the Night
The Grammy Award-winning artist, fresh off a Glastonbury set, speaks to GQ about her new album, Night Reign, from the ideas that led to its conception to its genre-defying collabs with Elvis Costello, Kaki King and more.
Louis Vuitton's New Beat
The luxury maison's latest addition to the Tambour line reiterates its commitment to watchmaking and craftsmanship.