The Algorithm is Not You
Thoughts on Life in a Digital Time
The Start, Setting
Do you ever get caught up in things you didn’t expect? Do you lose focus on your own personal goals? Do you wonder why? It is hard not to at times.
I dove into the fray, as anyone who shows up almost daily to write, of writing online and writing on Medium too. I felt I had things to say, and still do feel I have a lot of good, really good things to say. Especially on those topics, I have been writing about. Mostly I write on yogic breathing, herbal medicine in your backyard, crypto, and writing arts. In pursuit of personal expression here I started and am developing two specialized blogs or publications on Medium. And I am happy with these.
Starting something new is a challenge which is why we, most of us, do it. Some are forced from circumstance, but some get to face a challenge head-on and work through whatever comes from this work. Bit by bit you learn, you grow, and you meet your own personal goals.
You have a passion you want to pursue. Something that the very thought of doing makes you so, so happy, that you cannot dream of not doing that thing. Whatever it is you want to do, it is your passion. And as creators, we want to share our passions while others observe our joy and learn from what brings us joy. We put ourselves out there for others to see. It is a deeply personal act to show someone your painting, your music, your poem because it is you.
I have been going through a life transition, career change, and life reevaluation. Moving from software development to copy and grant writing. This feels more in line with my values and my self-image. I am a writer because I love to write. It is my oxygen.
Where I have Gone
When we study copywriting and copywriting techniques we learn that the standards were developed before the Don Draper character set foot inside an office building.
A century ago.
100 years back in time.
The means of pushing product has been around longer than anyone alive today could possibly experience. Nobody today has been around a time before copywriting was pushing soft drinks, cigars & humidors, or bleach.
Notice something about that list? They each are used for only one thing. Social algorithms are the same. If you are a creator of any kind you know how to get views or reads. Focus. Focus on one thing you can offer and that is how the algorithm will label you. Astrologers do not usually offer physical exercise content. Crypto traders do not often offer advice on yoga. You get the picture.
Algorithms do not deal well with nuance or character. Algorithms do not understand the diversity of ways we can express ourselves. They see us as wanting just one ‘thing’ at a time.
Social algorithms can handle one human aspect at a time.
And they also want that one thing to be unique.
Some authors on Medium rename the images they use for their blog posts so that they are unique. This is done in the belief that the algorithm wants to find something new to catalog.
Finding something new or novel is exactly how the Pinterest algorithm works. In order to get your pin ranked on Pinterest one aspect is it needs to be unique. The Pinterest algorithm wants to find new things to catalog. It is hungry for new things.
Concluding Unscientific Finding
What does this mean? Social algorithms will pigeonhole you and your content. Algorithms can only, at this point, only appreciate one thing from a creator. At least just one thing at a time.
We, that is the collective WE, the human WE are multifaceted in nature. Human beings do not usually label each other as being only this or only that. How many times have you heard an actor say they don’t want to be typecast. Typecasting is being cast continuously as one type of character. It happens in Hollywood but does not have to happen in real life.
Social and creator algorithms also want your content to be unique. These algorithms want your content in a box but your ingenuity in editing your content is rewarded as well.
Social and creator algorithms want you to niche down and be unique in your offering in that niche. This is true of Pinterest, copywriting blogs posts for SEO, Medium writing, LinkedIn, and more.
But what if …
Your engagement on your chosen platform is not going as you planned? What if you do not gain the following you want in return for your efforts to contribute? What if you do not meet your goal for followers on Medium or engagement on Pinterest, or LinkedIn. Remember that you are not just what an algorithm says you are. You are a multifaceted human being. You have more to offer than just what an algorithm says you do.
Think of life as having many rooms. There is the career room, the social room, the creative room, the economic room, and so on. (The actual room titles do not matter. Just divide your life into different sections and see what comes up.) To live well is to live well, or balanced, in each and every room. Misunderstanding this leads to absolutizing one room, one area, above all other areas of life.
For example, the economic room is easily absolutized. It is easy to believe that having and making money is the end-all of existence. Most of our western society tends to fall into this thinking. But what happens when the economic room is absolutized? The others suffer. So projects, maybe personal projects even, do not get a priority because it does not add to the pocketbook.
Or another example would be absolutizing the career room. This is how workaholics manifest themselves. All else is sacrificed for the sake of career success.
What’s my point
Keep a sense of perspective when you are in the process of creating online. Remember you are more than the algorithm says you are. It is easy to get down when your engagement suffers cuz you wrote that article on a tree or yogic breathing technique. Remember you are a human being, and experimentation is okay. And don’t let the algorithm pigeonhole you or your personality, because the algorithm can’t account for how unique and special you really are.
If you enjoy reading my content, consider subscribing to my feed. Also, if you are not a Medium member and you would like to gain unlimited access to the platform, consider using my referral link right here to sign up. It’s $5 a month and you get unlimited access to my articles and many others like mine. Thanks.
If you want to subscribe to my email list click here.
