The anti-algorithm movement: Authenticity as our new imperative

In an era where our lives are increasingly curated by invisible algorithms, a cultural countermovement is gaining momentum. Across platforms and demographics, consumers are experiencing what can only be described as algorithm fatigue—a weariness with recommendations that feel too predictable, too personalised and sometimes, almost suspiciously engineered.

We have all experienced it. We think of something, and a few hours later, an eerily accurate sponsored ad appears on our Instagram feed. This is prompting a change in how we think about curated content.

Is this really how we want to be known? Is it how we want to discover products and engage with brands? Given how this is now gaining traction in the world—the answer is a resounding ‘no’.

There was a time when recommendations felt magical. When Spotify introduced its personalised Discover Weekly playlists, users marvelled at how accurately the platform could cater to their specific blend of musical taste.

Fast forward to today, and that initial wonder has morphed into something more complex. The algorithms that once delighted us have become too efficient at predicting what we will like.

This hyper-personalisation creates an uncanny digital experience where everything feels predetermined, leaving us with a nagging sense that genuine discovery—with all its messiness and unpredictability—has been engineered out of our lives.

In fact, in 2019, the streaming platform came up with a playlist called the ‘Tastebreakers’, with the goal of broadening users’ music horizons via genres and artists they didn’t typically explore. That was a UX response to what can be thought of as a recommendation loop: where we consume variations of the same content with diminishing returns of joy and curiosity. It’s the digital equivalent of never being able to take a wrong turn and stumble upon a neighbourhood gem.

For a moment, let’s take ourselves into the Harry Potter universe—think Bertie Bott’s Every-Flavoured Beans. The product was designed around the joy of not knowing. There was a peculiar thrill in picking a bean and not knowing whether it would taste like chocolate or earwax, banana or soap. That delicious anticipation, the equal possibility of delight or disgust, created an emotional engagement that perfectly curated experiences simply cannot match.

Several brands have recognised this shift and are deliberately challenging algorithmic certainty. Fnac and Publicis Conseil developed a targeted campaign called ‘Unrecommended by the Algorithm’. It brilliantly subverted personalisation by selecting and serving content that people had only a 2% chance of liking.

Though counterintuitive, the retailer was exposing its consumers to products and ideas they would never typically encounter, allowing true discovery to take place where it always does: outside the comfort zone.

In parallel, the idea of ‘Mystery Box Shopping’ is taking the e-commerce and retail world by storm. Brands are now curating packages with a mix of their products, the contents of which remain a surprise until the consumer receives and opens it.

Videos that depict the unboxing of these items have become a trend of their own on social media. This signals a clear yearning for authenticity and a strong need to move away from the synthetic digital landscape we’ve gotten used to.

We see this outside the realm of tangible products as well. The news curation platform, AllSides, for instance, was founded on the editorial philosophy of reducing the bias and polarisation that comes from existing in an echo chamber. Their goal is to provide multi-partisan news, giving users access to perspectives that aren’t framed to suit their ideologies.

However, like with Bertie Bott’s beans, there is always going to be the risk of not enjoying something. Of dislike and disgust and disappointment and disuse.

For brands accustomed to the safety of data-driven decision-making, this may feel threatening. After all, algorithms provide a comforting illusion of certainty.

In 2021, Netflix launched the ‘Surprise Me’ feature, which played a randomised movie or show on click, in direct contrast to its algorithmic ‘recommended for you’ platter. However, the button was removed in 2023 due to low usage—watchers knew what they came for, and wanted exactly that.

Essentially, when brands partake in the anti-algorithm movement, they will have to relinquish some amount of control over the exact path customers take. The focus, instead, should be on becoming enablers of discovery.

Three key principles allow this to happen. The first is transparency; it requires an open acknowledgement of how content and products are being presented, giving users clear options to step outside of the algorithmic box.

The second is a discovery-first mindset—creating spaces that users can freely navigate and reach meaningful discoveries. The third is the idea of curated serendipity. Brands can deliberately introduce elements of surprise into the consumer experience, creating moments of delight that algorithms, by their very nature, cannot reproduce.

We are witnessing a fundamental re-evaluation of what ‘personalisation’ actually means. True personalisation isn’t just reflecting preferences a user has already expressed; it is understanding the human desire for growth, challenge, and surprise. And as AI-generated content becomes ubiquitous, the human touch, with all its imperfections and uncertainty, becomes more valuable, not less.

As we navigate this post-algorithm landscape, the brands that thrive won’t be those with the most sophisticated prediction engines, but those that best understand the enduring human need to be genuinely seen and engaged with, not as data points, but as people looking to be excited and inspired.

— Ananya Damodaran, Associate, Quantum Consumer Solutions.