When you allow the algorithm to dictate your content, are your really sharing what you want to share or bending, consenting, shaping your content to meet the algorithm’s demands?
Listen, I get it, there are formulas that work and sometimes it makes sense to fit your own creations inside that box because you genuinely care and want to reach more people with your message…. but when doing it at a cost, is it worth it?
All the big platforms are the gatekeeper to big brother, hiring idiots…I mean fact checkers…I mean thought police, to quiet anyone not saying what they want them to say. It’s not right, but it’s their house and I got suckered in before I knew it was a data harvesting, social engineering, agenda promoting, AI propaganda pushing egoic Akash…The Book of Face(s), ewe.
And then there’s Instagram…instant gram of dopamine, sniff that and keep scrolling.
I can’t even with Tik-Tok, just no.
It’s sad that in this age of censorship we have to use memes, code-words, and digital mimes to subvert the digital mines, a mind field of why’s and whines.
In this world of short form content, I’m so happy to find substack where people actually read and interact, what is this beautiful madness…shhh don’t tell anyone, ok tell everyone…ok be strategic about who you tell (insert wink emoji here)!
The dopamine delivery system shoots straight to the vein, instantaneous results while having to do no work on those attention muscles, just let them atrophy away, because the distraction feels so damn good.
To add to it all, people who share views outside of the mainstream are often harassed by bots or haters screaming:
- Just send a link
- Prove it
- Tell me the answers
- Get to the point
- Follow the science (psy-ense psy-op)
To which I respond:
- Do your own research
- Google it (use the tiny computer in your hands)
- I don’t work for you
- Figure it out yourself
Maybe that is harsh, but hear me out as I learned this the hard way… I will not send a link because most of the time they won’t read it anyway and if they do the confirmation bias is going to kick in and the exchange won’t be useful or constructive. Obviously there are exceptions, but at one point I found myself wondering why I even share anything about anything. The truth is, because I care, because my voice matters as much as those who disagree, because part of doing the work is helping people think for themselves, to come back to themselves, to find critical thinking again after being indoctrinated into learned helplessness. I’m grateful for people throughout my life who challenged me to get curious, ask myself hard questions and solve my own problems.
So often I’ll see someone include a link or additional information in a caption or description, but most don’t take time to read what it says, then commenters “expect” immediate answers in this fast-paced world that has created an inability to slow down and ponder possibilities beyond what we think we know or to take what is being shared and let that be a spring board to fuel our own seeking.
I never try to trigger anyone, thought sometimes my existence seems to be that way, but that’s a story for another day.
I’ve learned that if I truly want something, I will go after it, whether it’s information, truth, learning a new skill, hobby, habit, whatever…but I have to be intrinsically motivated and willing to see what that may be, even if it is uncomfortable. This makes the journey more meaningful, the information more impactful and the internal shift more likely because it is self-initiated. The seeds planted by those you, perhaps, have long forgotten, briefly encountered, or never even knew beyond the screen, manifest into little doubts that linger in the back of the mind, ultimately helping create massive shifts in a future trajectory when that ah-ha moment arrives. How quickly people forget their impact on others, even those that they will never meet, just by being.
The spoon-fed babble land has a place in the whole scheme but so do those that think differently from what it offers up.
I miss the days when there was no app, no internet, battling for my attention.
I miss the days when there were no disclaimers or clarifications needed, just to talk.
I miss the days when vast assumptions weren’t made about someone because they hold one belief that is different than someone else’s.
I miss the days when algorithms were not in our vocabulary and the rhythm of life was the only dance.
More than ever, concentration and motivation encourage resourcefulness and presence. Let us remember that and turn from the AI and back into I AM.
There is also something to be said for the cleverness and creativity that has flourished from the censorship and algorithm favoritism. I love seeing how people rise up and move through the challenge brought on by the “restrictions,” focusing on solutions and solving problems.
Every challenge gives us a chance to choose a new path. Bend to the collective cookie cutter or pivot, twist, forge our own paths. Even in the realm of digital fakes it’s becoming easier to see (and feel) what is real. The more you take time to digital detox and then come back to it, the easier it is to see.
I remember when I stopped watching the news and TV, it was like cleaning out old cobwebs and using a vacuum to suck all the wasteful crap out of my brain. Only when I came back to it was I like what in the actual “bleep” was I doing? Sometimes it’s stepping way from something that helps us see more clearly, whatever it is. Sometimes that clarity helps us see what we were missing and sometimes it helps us see where we were wasting our precious time and energy.
Everything has its place. Memes can be impactful or seemingly contribute to the dumbing down of everything. Emoji’s can say a lot in an instant or say nothing at all. Social media can be uplifting and connecting at times or grossly distracting.
I’m glad we have it, despite its purpose for being created and clear pain points. I’ve been able to meet and connect with people I never would have known otherwise. I’ve made lasting friendships and digital pen-pals that were there when no one else was.
Everyone has to find their way and live with their consequences. It’s always easier to believe a comfortable lie than face a liberating truth, but you’re going to have to go get it, be open to staring at your own shit in the mirror and understand that no one owes you a link or has to hand information over on a silver-platter, especially if you aren’t ready or willing to eat what’s on it.
Be you, fuck the algorithm…. or at least find the balance between using a template and the temple of the mind, between getting stuck in a funnel funeral and having fun with its function, between a mis-aligned high ticket offer and solution-oriented value via natural exposure.
I think it’s ok to use, and even be thankful for, templates and those who figured these things out that can help others in this mad world find a way to share their creations, messages, earn a living…. just don’t sell yourself out, keep harmony between head and heart, keep soul in your art, do it for you, do it as an expression of your wisdom to impart.
If you think you’re bending to the algorithm, ask yourself, are you willing to express a change of view on something even though it may affect the audience or are you allowing your audience to dictate your message to you? How can we find authentic connections if we are bending to appease?
Ultimately, to completely rebel against the machine as a means of defiance, can also be a recipe for shooting yourself in the foot. While the times we find ourselves in require a new level of discernment to use it and not be used by it, it can be used for good.
And that “link” someone sent you…is it guiding you somewhere you don’t want to go or aren’t ready to see…or is it a digital barbed wire fence daring you to cross it for the path to liberation requires a sense of adventure, a knowing you might get cut and the courage to break through barriers?
On top of that, Google results are anything but resourceful, are you willing to put on your inspector gadget hat and comb through the muck?
Can you discern between the data regurgitation of the machine and the heartfelt message of a living man…or woman?
Are you outsourcing instead of IN-SOURCEing?
Your unique essence transcends the pages or screen by your works and your intention carries it through…. you are the medium, the channel, the fingerprint that brings life into the realm of the dead, the underworld entity of the black screen. Be the scryer or be scryed, play the digital game or be played by it… welcome to the evolution of the matrix, be real or a fantasy behind a filter, a ghost in the machine.
I don’t have the answers, I toil over doing the right thing, finding balance and making my way in the digital space, hoping I never compromise myself, but knowing everyone is human…and it is in the mistakes we make that differentiate us from the robotic regurgitation of the data programmed into this black box. It is our imperfections that give way to our gifts, our errors that put us back on track, our “life” experiences that mold our perceptions. These perceptions cannot be replicated by another, yet it is our individuation that connects us in resonance with other living souls….and you can feel it in your bones, all while the machine forever remains cold.
As long as AI asks me to click a box to verify I’m human, I’m not convinced it will take over the world before malfunctioning. It can’t understand my requests in its prompts anytime I call a place that has things “automated.” If anything, it’s the ultimate Jokster and we’re all the fools.
No matter how we use technology, one thing is certain, it needs us more than we need it, it is not a creator, it is an impersonator, a copy-cat, a dummy and we are its ventriloquist…so program it with your wisdom, input it with your authenticity, and let your heart reverberate through its windows.
Stay real…don’t sell your soul for a dopamine scroll…don’t swallow your voice for the algorithm’s choice…do your own research…’aint nobody got time to do it for you….with tough love and hugs (and now it is time to go outside into the sunshine),