Spotify wrapped and the observer effect

Around this time every year, whatever social media is plastered with statistics from Spotify wrapped, where people are very happy with the evidence that, yes, they are a fan of the music they like. If these statistics are your own they can be moderately interesting. If they're someone else's, they're not at all.

It's all pretty harmless, but the annual round-up and subsequent judgement affects how people choose to get their entertainment across the year. While browsing Reddit I saw stories of people who had constructed playlists that they would play over night to pump up their numbers, people openly disappointed at how their listening compared to others, and debate over just how much of a fan they are leading to declared intent to do better next year.

Is someone in the top 1% of listeners less of a fan that someone in the top 0.5%? How is this a question? When did enjoying art and entertainment become competitive and something to be judged on? How is 'doing better' something that can be measured?

This is part of the reason I don't maintain a /now page here anymore, and why I don't have goodreads, letterboxd, or last.fm accounts. When I did use these services the only conversations that they started were negative. Why did I rate a film they like so low? How could I enjoy that book? That album is overrated. I don't doubt that this kind of sharing can lead to positive chats, but it's unfortunately not something I have experienced.

These annual wrap ups have spread to other entertainment sources, and even banks. Keeping users on the inside and getting all the free marketing every winter. I absolutely recognise that my own aversion to attention deeply affects my feelings about this, but we do not stop existing if we're not being observed. We don't need approval to enjoy anything, and we never need to justify our tastes.