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Social media algorithms not only stifle creativity, they kill it completely.

With every social media app being controlled and manipulated, and with AI technology just over the horizon about to explode, more and more we are sacrificing creative thoughts and expressions to beat the algorithm at its own game.

But in that very act of sacrifice, the algorithm has already won.

The influencers we are seeing every day are tailored to all look, walk, talk, and act the same.

We aren’t telling our truths, our stories. We are more worried about followers, shares, likes, trending auto, shock and awe factor, attention-seeking performances, subscribers, and trending content.

You are not rewarded for your freethinking, individualism, or originality.

It actually punishes you for being different, shunning and hiding your hard work, throwing you into the internet ether never to be seen or heard from again.

And yet, we all rely on social media in order to grow. To grow our businesses, to share our content, to showcase our talents and work. This is what I call the big “social media trap.” We all rely on these platforms. The problem is the algorithm can change at any time, and therefore so can your content, and subsequently, your income.

In other words: the algorithm says “jump” and you have to ask “how high”?

The algorithm is pushing to make millions of clones. The same videos are being regurgitated, over and over again: the lady pointing to words, the dancing girl, the funny curvy guy, and of course, let’s not forget, the lip-syncing of the same movie/show quote over and over and over again. Where one was a hit and went viral are a million that follow, as that’s what is currently “trending.”

But when has what’s trending ever lasted? Thin eyebrows were in when I was in high school; look at how fast that faded out. Thank god.

Am I guilty of following these dead-end trends myself? 100 percent.

I have tried to modify my pictures to look perfect, worn filters to cover the wrinkles forming, and made Reels with trending audios just so they’ll get seen.

And I’ve hated every single minute of it.

If you only stick the what the algorithm wants, sure, you might just get a million or more views and more followers, but you’ll sell your soul to the devil just to get it.

And there’s nothing more that creatives hate than selling out.

Creatives are all about humanism. They are about stripping down our skin and exposing the bones of the most vulnerable parts of ourselves: the good, the bad, the ugly.

Here there is no human component. There is no soul, no thought, no enrichment.

Where is the beating and bloody heart, the juice of the fruit? It is silently being squeezed out and replaced with artificial flavouring, sweeteners, and chemical junk that nobody asked for or needs.

Unfortunately, we are all quenching our thirst by chugging it down as fast as we can, completely unaware that the very drink we are killing ourselves to finish is the same one making us thirsty: and thus the cycle just continues.

Life is not a curated feed. Life is messy, real, raw. Life has no makeup filter and body modifier. Life has cracks around the eyes, fat around the thighs, and no filter on a 5 a.m. sunrise.

There is no “Like” button in real life.

Moral of the story?

F*ck the algorithm. Create what you want, how you want. Support other artists and companies who don’t have as many followers, and engage in accounts that truly light you up, tug on your heart strings, interest you, or make you feel alive.

You want to influence something? Influence people’s hearts. Because at the end of the day, the only way to truly beat this machine is by changing the algorithm ourselves.

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