We Don’t Have Trends Anymore We Have Algorithms

Not long ago, discovering a new band felt like uncovering buried treasure. You found it in a dusty record store crate or from a burned CD your friend passed along. Trends came from church basements, garage shows, local zines. They had texture and story. But in 2025, culture no longer bubbles up from communities it trickles down from algorithms.

Now we don’t search we scroll. We don’t dig we’re fed. We don’t explore we’re shown. And while that might sound efficient, the tradeoff is more costly than most realize.

In his sharp new book Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture, Kyle Chayka explains why every Airbnb looks the same, every worship playlist blends together, and every “authentic” influencer starts to feel strangely familiar. His premise is simple: algorithms didn’t just organize the internet they reshaped culture itself.

And not for the better.

The Comfortable Mirror

“Algorithmic recommendations are addictive,” Chayka writes, “because they are always subtly confirming your own cultural, political and social biases.” They don’t just show us what we might like they show us filtered, sanitized versions of ourselves. The result? A mirror, not a window. Content, not culture. Repetition, not renewal.

In this world, discovery is no longer a process it’s a suggestion. Curiosity is no longer cultivated it’s contained. And Christian twenty-somethings trying to build conviction, community, and calling are left wondering why everything feels so shallow.

Flattened by the Feed

Filterworld is subtle. It feels helpful. Spotify knows your mood. TikTok finishes your sentence. Netflix recommends exactly what won’t offend you. But as Chayka asks, “In passively consuming what I was interested in, had I given up my agency to figure out what was truly meaningful to me?”

It’s not just about tech fatigue. It’s about spiritual formation.

Because when the feed decides what we see, we’re outsourcing not just our preferences but our discernment. Our curiosity. Even our creativity.

Chayka describes today’s dominant digital content as “accessible, replicable, participatory and ambient.” That’s why most viral things look and sound the same. It’s why worship music trends echo with predictable melodies. Why churches are designed like coffee shops. Why influencers read Scripture in the same breathy tones.

When culture is optimized for engagement, anything too weird, complex, or costly is filtered out. What we’re left with is not art it’s content. Not conversation but commentary.

Why Christians Should Care

The gospel is not optimized. It’s not ambient. It’s not built for frictionless consumption. Christianity calls for discomfort, nuance, and slow, sacred formation everything Filterworld resists.

Paul’s command in Romans 12 couldn’t be more relevant: “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” That doesn’t happen through autoplay. It happens through intention.

Filterworld says, “Don’t think. We’ve already picked something for you.” But faith demands discernment. Depth. Disruption. Sometimes, that means picking the slow movie over the fast clip. The unknown artist over the top playlist. The old book with footnotes over the TikTok sermon.

Sometimes, it means being out of step on purpose.

Reclaiming Culture With Intention

Chayka doesn’t suggest we throw our phones in the river. But he does recommend something like an algorithmic fast. Choose a magazine instead of a scroll. Pick your music instead of letting it autoplay. Read something challenging. Watch something recommended by a real friend, not a machine.

For Christians, it’s also a call to rethink how we build and participate in culture. Because a faith formed by feeds will struggle to stand. We need to recover the joy of local, the beauty of discovery, and the grit of creation.

Maybe the most countercultural thing you can do in 2025 is not go viral but go deep. Not keep up but slow down. Not repost but rediscover.

Because in a world curated by algorithms, depth is rebellion. Meaning takes work. And real culture the kind shaped by humans, formed in community, and echoing something eternal is still worth digging for.

If this resonated with you, share it with someone feeling flattened by the feed or subscribe to our newsletter for more faith-centered reflections that help you live deeper in a digital world.