Algorithmic imaginary and the case of Spotify

Abstract

Algorithms are said to be of impact on many aspects of our lives, at the same time they are intangible and black boxed. This thesis investigates how the algorithmic imaginary – ways of thinking about what algorithms are and how they work – of Spotify users plays a role in their music consumption. Through an interface analysis and focus group interviews, this research shows that these ways of thinking do not result in utopian nor dystopian feelings about algorithms. Instead this thesis aims to demonstrate that the informants of this research, use Spotify as a way to shape and construct their identity and as such this (new) technology is incorporated in how the informants perceive themselves.