Post-Userist Recommender Systems : A Manifesto

We define userist recommendation as an approach to recommender systems framed solely in terms of the relation between the user and system. Post-userist recommendation posits a larger field of relations in which stakeholders are embedded and distinguishes the recommendation function (which can potentially connect creators with audiences) from generative media. We argue that in the era of generative media, userist recommendation becomes indistinguishable from personalized media generation, and therefore post-userist recommendation is the only path forward for recommender systems research.
Comment: Extended abstract for paper presented at AltRecSys Workshop 2024. Held at the 18th ACM Conference on Recommender Systems, Bari, Italy. October 18, 2024