Posting for the algorithm
I was scrolling through Facebook a few days ago when I noticed a specific video content. I knew it was the Facebook algorithm that had brought the video to my account, but I clicked anyway.
The video was quite funny, so I clicked on the creator's profile and continued to explore more video contents, which resulted in more laughter because the contents were completely funny, with no moments of no-jokes.
So what made this person's content memorable?
Creativity
They were performing a satirical mimic of a common issue in Nigeria, so it was enjoyable to watch such a person make humor out of an otherwise very terrible situation. So I followed this guy, because I wanted to see more of the same type of content from him.
Now, I decided to check out his very first video, and I noticed that he started out by copying a few other creators, which did not get him any views or attention. He tried a few more, but it still did not work, so he changed things up and decided to channel what he could do.
So the problem was that he initially thought that copying other popular creators' styles of content and uniqueness would help him grow quickly, but he remained stagnant for a long time until he tried out what he was truly capable of, and he exploded like wildfire.
We dislike copycatism
Apparently, no one wants a makeshift of another person.
People can distinguish between what is fake and what is authentic. No one wants to pay attention to something that looks like something they have seen before, no matter how good it looks, unless the copycat looks or appears to be better than the original, but 99% of the time, the copycat is never better than the original, so why?
It will mostly be perceived as a repetition or a failed attempt at creativity.
So this guy had to do some copycatting to see what worked. He already has something unique, but he may have felt the need for something that would help him scale more quickly.
Unfortunately, we cannot accelerate growth. True, there must be a period of trial and error, and during this time, we may want to be other people, talk like them, and copy their strategies because they have proven to be effective, but we cannot build identities based on other people's original concepts.
The "sucess" algorithm
Humans are algorithmical in nature; we mostly want to be creative when other things fail, but we started out just wanting to build something using existing data, information, and ideas. Nobody wants to build things that are likely to fail, so we mostly stick to what is likely to succeed because the algorithm is favorable.
This is a very popular thing on Hive.
I noticed a creator who used to post a variety of content, but has recently started posting only splinterlands content; why? They probably triggered the algorithm, and they began receiving massive upvotes from the splinterlands trail.
Now, this may not be what they truly know how to do, but as I previously stated, whenever and wherever the algorithm is triggered, we tend to backtrack a little, check what we have done correctly, compare it to what we have not done correctly, and then change our pattern of creativity based on our track record of successes.
Monotonous
I do not click or open this person's posts anymore; why? It is the same old review of rewards cards that come with Conclave Arcana sales, and I am not interested in the posts because they have become monotonous. However, for the author, it is a great outcome in terms of rewards, which is likely what is most important to them.
This is the two-edged nature of algorithms. On the one hand, you get to discover your most rewarding type of content because that is obviously what a group of people are interested in, and because this group of people has the ability to push you further, you are more or less compelled to create what they desire.
Motivation too, can be important
On the other hand, this type of growth may not occur naturally.
You may do well financially, but your growth is not natural, and you are not developing as a creator because you are simply pleasing the algorithm.
When this set of consumers grows tired, you will have to switch up again-for the rewards, because that is what inspired that type of content from the start.
However, being led by an algorithm is not necessarily a bad thing. The advantage is that we can achieve some short-term successes, which can serve as motivation to continue despite minor setbacks.
However, the only issue is that sometimes we are forced to please the algorithm, which stifles the true value or creativity we embody.
Interested in some more of my posts
Why Is the grind getting harder?
Monopoly Is the Death of Civilization
Survival: Choas and Scarcity
Crypto: Gut & meaningful Connections
What is the primary barrier to entry in Web3?
What Are Some Things You Should not Do During A Bull Market Year?
Being rewarded by algorithm alone is a sign of lazy authorship in my view. We should be creative, change things up even if the material hasn't changed a whole lot. There are always more angles of interest!
Personally I get bored of the same content day in and day out. I tend to change things up for my own sanity. But if one is rewarded for using the same content over and over it's like the mouse seeking the cheese. In the end the mouse gets there, but it gets awfully boring to watch.
Great post!
I agree. I checked this particular user's post and it was strictly splinterlands in the last 3 to 5 days and it was about the conclave arcana cards. It got really monotonous, but I just this creators. Perhaps they feel they've been able to hit the eureka and discover their own niche, but I think it wasn't. The splinterlands curation trail and the people handling it and probably giving off support to conclave arcana contents.
Personally it just seem to get too boring for me, and I don't bother to open the post, because there's nothing to read that hasn't been read before.
I don't blame people for chasing after the rewards. I don't think its interesting to repeat the same thing every single day, and I think that its good that you recognize which content appeals to you. It might not appeal to you, but there might be people who it does appeal to.
For me, I just think repetitive stuffs aren't really as exciting, although that's for me, for the author it's a massive turnout, although what can I say it's what it is. Hahaha the game is the game.
i guess the idea is to always spice things up, rather than doing it for the benefit and reward. do it for the fun is another way around do it because you love to and not because you want to but most folks always focus on the now and not then
The reward is good, I'm just saying that doing the same thing might not be completely good for someone who is consuming, but for the author it's a good return.
hmmm absolutely
Nice algorithm