Spotify Wrapped, TikTok – Maybe the algorithms are losing touch

“Wrapped” is no longer about a person’s surprising listening habits, but rather about nebulous mood swings. Yes, a lot of people listened to Chappell Roan and Kendrick Lamar this year. Is anyone the least bit stunned?

But this isn’t even just a Spotify problem. Many platforms now offer annual reviews, and almost all of them seem like a collective shrug of the shoulders. Over on TikTok, the company announced that its users are keen on being low-key and really like Moo Deng. Yes, no joke. These revelations are about as shocking as the fact that there were 1.2 million BookTok posts in the first 10 months of the year. Anyone who has ever opened the app can probably tell you that it is a huge part of the platform.

As I read the annual report, I was reminded that TikTok’s algorithm may have become too good at pointing people to sure-fire hits and less good at loading up FYPs with videos that people find incredibly imaginative or fascinating.

In other unsurprising news, horniness was big on Grindr this year. The hookup app’s Unwrapped report also named Charli XCX Mom of the Year and noted that the sex position of the year was missionary. Actually, that’s perhaps surprising. At least for Grindr.

My final thought, however, comes from an end-of-year mainstay that (I don’t think) relies on algorithms: Oxford University Press’s Word of the Year. Determined by popular vote, expert input and, as Casper Grathwohl, president of Oxford Languages, told the New York Times, a bit of “dark art,” this year’s word is… drumroll… “brain rot.” Uh, you know, the degeneration that comes from spending too much time looking at stupid stuff on the internet.

The monitor is on weekly column is dedicated to everything happening in the WIRED cultural world, from films to memes, television to TikTok.

First: Yes, those are two words. Second, other people have noticed this discrepancy, proving that perhaps all of the internet’s favorite end-of-year traditions are feeling the heat of social media this year. “Brain rot” also beat “demure” and “romantasy,” the frequent BookTok themes. Ultimately, algorithms may have an influence here too, just not in the way you would expect. Maybe all the decisions we made along the way were the real brain rot.

Loose threads:

Martial law on Bluesky. Earlier this week, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol briefly declared martial law in the country. The country’s opposition parties have already tried to initiate impeachment proceedings against him, but while that was happening, it was one of the first major news events to hit Bluesky on the platform. If you missed it, I highly recommend you go back and relive the moment through Verge features editor Sarah Jeong’s half-drunken skeets.

Tsunami warning on Bluesky. On Thursday, Bluesky had another major news event: a tsunami warning that kept much of Northern California, including the San Francisco Bay Area, on tenterhooks for over an hour, sharing updates, cracking jokes and rejoicing in the fact that there was a new one There was a place to discuss these things.

A clever skeet. About Chappell Roan and Twisted Sister.

Do you need a vacation… anything? Advent Carolndar is back. It’s a fun little web show featuring made-up Christmas songs by two very funny theater nerds. If you haven’t seen it yet, check out all of the previous years’ episodes on her Instagram page.