A taste of machine: exploring algorithmic curations of (in)visibility on digital platforms
What we see and who we connect with on social media is determined by algorithmic curation. However, this curation is never innocent. This project investigates how the subtle signs of taste in visual content become thresholds for algorithms to control the (in)visibility of users across different geopolitical and cultural contexts.
The project combines computational image analysis with qualitative methods to analyse large-scale visual datasets from social media platforms, focusing on comparing content from the Global North and South. It examines how aesthetics and tastes – embedded in images and short videos – circulate on these platforms, paying attention to patterns of algorithmic amplification and suppression. The central question is: How do users and algorithms together produce digital landscapes of (in)visibility, encouraging connection or polarisation?
Associate Professor Massimo Airoldi, University of Milan
Associate Professor Noa Garcia, University of Osaka
Project: A taste of machine: exploring algorithmic curations of (in)visibility on digital platforms
Period: 2025-2028