A woman in leggings and Ugg boots poses for a selfie. A blond millennial strides along a porch in a leopard-print blouse. A leather recliner stretches across a snug living room. The images scroll by under one's thumb, a blur of shoppable scenes.
I'm getting an early look at the new Inspire section on Amazon's smartphone app. Set to launch this year, it's the company's response to TikTok: a personalized, machine-curated feed of user videos, all with "buy" links. Despite having little interest in the actual products on each page, I find myself lured in. "It's one of those things," confesses the Amazon spokesperson who arranged the demo, "that can [take you] down a happy rabbit hole."
These days, everyone's rabbit hole is a little different. Whereas in the earliest years of the internet, when each web page, icon, or piece of content was meticulously designed and more or less static, what we see online today is increasingly created in real time and tailored to individual users. The product listings on your Amazon homepage change according to your shopping habits. The songs queued up by your Spotify Discover Weekly playlists are tuned to your latest listens and likes. Your Google search results account for your late-night web surfing.
TikTok has taken that idea even further with its For You Page (FYP) feed. The eccentric, confusing, and captivating mix of rapid-fire scenes on your FYP have been optimized in response to your every tap, pause, and glance online. The result is a sort of customized cable TV channel, reflecting your (supposed) tastes.
Denne historien er fra March - April 2023-utgaven av Fast Company.
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Denne historien er fra March - April 2023-utgaven av Fast Company.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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THE NEW RULES OF BUSINESS TRAVEL
In the era of hybrid teams, everyone is a road warrior-not just sales teams and C-suite execs. It's part of why business travel spending is expected to finally reach, and perhaps surpass, pre-pandemic levels by the end of the year, according to Deloitte. But, as with everything, work trips are not what they were in 2019. From airlines to banks, companies are finding new ways to make business travel easier-and even a little fun.
INTELLIGENT IMPACT
BUSINESS LUMINARIES SHARE HOW AI CAN INTERSECT WITH SOCIAL MISSION.
REDDIT'S REVENGE
IN AN ERA OF AI UPHEAVAL. THE CACOPHONOUS SOCIAL HUB EMERGES AS THE HUMAN-DRIVEN INTERNET'S LAST GREAT HOPE.
SO MANY WAYS TO LOSE
In the Ozempic era, Weight-Watchers is remaking itself to be something for everyone meal-plan program and a tele-health prescription service. But have consumers already lost their appetite?
10/10 - THE 10 MOST INNOVATIVE PEOPLE OF THE LAST 10 YEARS
In honor of Fast Company's 10th Innovation Festival in September, we identified 10 industrious leaders whose groundbreaking efforts defined the past decade in business. We spoke to them about their extraordinary achievements in tech, medicine, entertainment, and more. And we explored how the impact of their work has withstood passing fads, various presidential administrations, a pandemic, and many, many quarterly reports.
The Mysterious Reappearance of the Reggie Bar
How a beloved 1970s candy got called back up to the major leagues.
Gabriella Khalil
Gabriella Khalil, creative director, answers our career questionnaire.
The Fast and the Furious
High prices at McDonald's, Taco Bell, and other chains are sparking consumer revolt.
Lost in Truncation
Lost in Truncation Generative AI was supposed to unleash our creativity. Instead, it became our cultural trash compactor. Welcome to the age of summarization.
Campus Radicals
Welcome to UATX, Austin's new well-funded and controversial anti-woke university.
