The most profound shift in the last decade is not just the type of content being produced, but how it finds us. In the era of linear television, the editor was the gatekeeper. In the age of digital popular media, the is the new programming director.
However, this algorithmic curation raises serious questions. Are we being entertained, or are we being programmed? When entertainment content and popular media are optimized purely for engagement metrics (watch time, shares, retweets), the content drifts toward the sensational, the extreme, or the emotionally manipulative. Nuance dies, because nuance doesn't go viral. ersties2023sharingisathingofbeauty1xxx new