I don't think any particular algorithm is necessary, unless you consider cultural evolution an algorithm. People copy what they see others doing that seems to be successful. It's the same reason...
I don't think any particular algorithm is necessary, unless you consider cultural evolution an algorithm.
People copy what they see others doing that seems to be successful. It's the same reason many ethnic restaurants are similar. They copy dishes that sell well, "authentic" or not.
From an evolutionary perspective, differences evolve when populations are separated by barriers (the "island effect"), and the same is true for culture; at one time every village had its own dialect because people didn't travel. With more communication you get more copying, more similarities.
New stuff is still going to be invented, but if people like it it, it will be widely copied, possibly globally if it has more than regional appeal.
Not a new phenomenon, although I'll allow that social media has a more pervasive reach. Especially in large swathes of central Europe, Adolf Loos' influence is a good example of what I would...
Not a new phenomenon, although I'll allow that social media has a more pervasive reach.
Especially in large swathes of central Europe, Adolf Loos' influence is a good example of what I would consider the same depressing phenomenon.
Agreed it is not new. People had the same complaints decades before computers. I've seen recurring articles over the years explaining it as Americans not liking surprises, wanting to be sure of...
Agreed it is not new. People had the same complaints decades before computers. I've seen recurring articles over the years explaining it as Americans not liking surprises, wanting to be sure of the experience they can have. A burger joint that they know is like the one at home is preferable to trying a new place that might be better.
I notice this a lot in website design, notably among the personal blog category that pops up a lot on link aggregators like Hacker News. They all seem to be trending toward a clean, minimal look...
I notice this a lot in website design, notably among the personal blog category that pops up a lot on link aggregators like Hacker News. They all seem to be trending toward a clean, minimal look where the content has a max-width and is centered, and the only real distinguishing characteristics are maybe a tiny logo in the header, what font they're using, and whether they're dark text on light background or the inverse (or offer a toggle between the two). I don't know if they started it or just hopped on the bandwagon, but Medium and Substack share a similar look too.
I'm not sure how I feel about it. The look is very non-offensive and makes the content easy to read, but I also find it rather pleasant when I occasionally come across a personal blog that shows a little more personality. That being said, I've noticed at least a couple instances recently over on HN where a significant portion of the conversation centered around how offended people were regarding specific stylistic choices by the author--the kind of discourse that probably helps drive everything towards homogeneity.
worth noting that this is just a web design best-practice. Typically you don't want long-form text to extend more than 80 characters per line because that causes fatigue and makes it easy to lose...
where the content has a max-width
worth noting that this is just a web design best-practice. Typically you don't want long-form text to extend more than 80 characters per line because that causes fatigue and makes it easy to lose your place in the text. You'll notice that Tildes actually does this for text, setting a max-width of 40rem, which at least on my laptop's display is ~= to 80ch
This can be found in native iOS apps too. UIKit/SwiftUI lets devs restrict content to “readable content width” which kicks in past a certain screen width, and good apps make use of it so...
This can be found in native iOS apps too. UIKit/SwiftUI lets devs restrict content to “readable content width” which kicks in past a certain screen width, and good apps make use of it so paragraphs aren’t stretched out to be long and skinny on phones in landscape mode and on iPads.
I think in the case for many of those blogs that belong to devs and other technical types, design isn’t their forte and so going with a known good minimal theme ensures that they don’t...
I think in the case for many of those blogs that belong to devs and other technical types, design isn’t their forte and so going with a known good minimal theme ensures that they don’t inadvertently negatively impact readability for readers with design choices.
Even for those who are more well versed, design can be challenging are difficult to get right, which some may consider a distraction from the main point which is to right blog posts.
That said I get what you’re saying about lack of personality.
Another thing that's changed- responsive design. It's hard to make a website that looks great on a phone, a tablet, a laptop, a standard desktop, and an ultrawide monitor. I agree that sites with...
Another thing that's changed- responsive design. It's hard to make a website that looks great on a phone, a tablet, a laptop, a standard desktop, and an ultrawide monitor. I agree that sites with "character" are more fun, but a lot of those older sites that would fall into that category don't actually render well on anything other than a laptop/desktop screen.
I think potato.cheap does this well, it just takes a lot of intentional design.
I've never noticed this problem. Some of it is I don't travel that much. Some is that I hardly use social media at all (Facebook for community announcements is about it). But the biggest factor is...
I've never noticed this problem.
Some of it is I don't travel that much. Some is that I hardly use social media at all (Facebook for community announcements is about it).
But the biggest factor is that if I go to a coffee shop and there isn't a giant smorgasboard of local artists' stuff for display and/or sale, I almost never return.
That was a really interesting take on a phenomenon that is older than any social media, as others have pointed out, but it got really weird at the end when it turned into a bunch of business...
That was a really interesting take on a phenomenon that is older than any social media, as others have pointed out, but it got really weird at the end when it turned into a bunch of business owners complaining about having to pay for advertising. Some of the owners even insinuated that paying to boost posts would be inauthentic, as if their carbon copy aesthetic cafes weren’t already. I’ll have to admit though, I’m a millennial and an instagramer. Walking into a cafe that has that aesthetic will probably never get old to me
I don't think any particular algorithm is necessary, unless you consider cultural evolution an algorithm.
People copy what they see others doing that seems to be successful. It's the same reason many ethnic restaurants are similar. They copy dishes that sell well, "authentic" or not.
From an evolutionary perspective, differences evolve when populations are separated by barriers (the "island effect"), and the same is true for culture; at one time every village had its own dialect because people didn't travel. With more communication you get more copying, more similarities.
New stuff is still going to be invented, but if people like it it, it will be widely copied, possibly globally if it has more than regional appeal.
Not a new phenomenon, although I'll allow that social media has a more pervasive reach.
Especially in large swathes of central Europe, Adolf Loos' influence is a good example of what I would consider the same depressing phenomenon.
Agreed it is not new. People had the same complaints decades before computers. I've seen recurring articles over the years explaining it as Americans not liking surprises, wanting to be sure of the experience they can have. A burger joint that they know is like the one at home is preferable to trying a new place that might be better.
I notice this a lot in website design, notably among the personal blog category that pops up a lot on link aggregators like Hacker News. They all seem to be trending toward a clean, minimal look where the content has a max-width and is centered, and the only real distinguishing characteristics are maybe a tiny logo in the header, what font they're using, and whether they're dark text on light background or the inverse (or offer a toggle between the two). I don't know if they started it or just hopped on the bandwagon, but Medium and Substack share a similar look too.
I'm not sure how I feel about it. The look is very non-offensive and makes the content easy to read, but I also find it rather pleasant when I occasionally come across a personal blog that shows a little more personality. That being said, I've noticed at least a couple instances recently over on HN where a significant portion of the conversation centered around how offended people were regarding specific stylistic choices by the author--the kind of discourse that probably helps drive everything towards homogeneity.
worth noting that this is just a web design best-practice. Typically you don't want long-form text to extend more than 80 characters per line because that causes fatigue and makes it easy to lose your place in the text. You'll notice that Tildes actually does this for text, setting a
max-widthof40rem, which at least on my laptop's display is ~= to80chThis can be found in native iOS apps too. UIKit/SwiftUI lets devs restrict content to “readable content width” which kicks in past a certain screen width, and good apps make use of it so paragraphs aren’t stretched out to be long and skinny on phones in landscape mode and on iPads.
I think in the case for many of those blogs that belong to devs and other technical types, design isn’t their forte and so going with a known good minimal theme ensures that they don’t inadvertently negatively impact readability for readers with design choices.
Even for those who are more well versed, design can be challenging are difficult to get right, which some may consider a distraction from the main point which is to right blog posts.
That said I get what you’re saying about lack of personality.
Another thing that's changed- responsive design. It's hard to make a website that looks great on a phone, a tablet, a laptop, a standard desktop, and an ultrawide monitor. I agree that sites with "character" are more fun, but a lot of those older sites that would fall into that category don't actually render well on anything other than a laptop/desktop screen.
I think potato.cheap does this well, it just takes a lot of intentional design.
I've never noticed this problem.
Some of it is I don't travel that much. Some is that I hardly use social media at all (Facebook for community announcements is about it).
But the biggest factor is that if I go to a coffee shop and there isn't a giant smorgasboard of local artists' stuff for display and/or sale, I almost never return.
That was a really interesting take on a phenomenon that is older than any social media, as others have pointed out, but it got really weird at the end when it turned into a bunch of business owners complaining about having to pay for advertising. Some of the owners even insinuated that paying to boost posts would be inauthentic, as if their carbon copy aesthetic cafes weren’t already. I’ll have to admit though, I’m a millennial and an instagramer. Walking into a cafe that has that aesthetic will probably never get old to me