How videos took over social media, and the internet

In the past, you can imagine why so many things appeared on your feed. Maybe you followed the Creator who put it; you might like their products in the past; maybe all your friends had it. That’s not how it works anymore. What you see on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube Shorts, and elsewhere has become increasingly difficult to track — the feeds are run by algorithms with many conflicting motivations, and are played by an army of Internet users you may not even know.

Get started this part of The Vergecast, Seaside‘s Mia Sato he explains how “cutting” worksand how turning things into great things has become big business all over the world. It is also possible to force people into the public consciousness just by appearing on their feed so much, and attention is needed, brute force is good enough. Mia explains how this happened, why social media seems to hate it and quit, and what it means for our online experience.

After that, Seaside‘s Victoria Song joins the show to compare notes with David on The new Fitbit Air. They both wore and tested Google’s new $99 tracker and its AI trainer, and they agree that Google looks like it onto something here. Of course, it all raises the same questions as always, about how to keep your privacy and whether you want to pour your needs and thoughts on a chatbot. But especially in this case, you seem to have returned something.

Finally, Vee insists on helping David answer a question from the Vergecast Hotline (call 866-VERGE11 or email vergecast@theverge.com!) smart glassesand if it helps you find things it can be a killer app for the new team. In theory, your glasses have everything they need to store your things; but is it worth upgrading?

If you want to learn more about everything we discuss in this episode, here are the links to get you started: