“But the algorithm isn’t showing me to as many people, I’m getting half the impressions I got last month”
Yep, that happens.
Because social media doesn’t owe you shit.
“I had all these followers, and then there was a big bot follower purge, and I’ve lost thousands overnight”
I don’t know what to tell you, babycakes.
No, hang on, wait—I do…
Social media doesn’t owe you shit.
“The algo is suppressing me because I’m talking about [insert important yet loaded topic]”
You can say it with me now, can’t you.
SOCIAL MEDIA DOESN’T OWE YOU SHIT.
It doesn’t owe you virality, exponential follower growth, a thriving freelancing business, the same impressions you got yesterday, last week, last year.
It can help you achieve those things, but it does not OWE you those things.
It doesn’t even owe you the same rules it applied yesterday, or even an hour ago.
Yes, sometimes algorithms are updated and recalibrated. This means that something you posted one day might not get the same impressions the next.
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Each social media platform is not a benevolent martyr to its users; it’s a business, and its personal stock exchange is your attention.
Any updates it makes to the alogorithm are designed to a) increase its profits and b) increase the time you spend on the platform because that, directly and indirectly, leads to a)
Is that annoying? Yes.
Is it unfair? Possibly.
Is it personal? No.
But how you respond to that frustration? That’s where your character shows.
Imagine you’re seeing a post from someone you like, and they say:
“My content is barely reaching anyone. No one’s seeing it.”
But you saw it. You’re someone. You care. And now they’ve just basically told you your attention doesn’t count while you’re left thinking, “OK, Beyonce. Shall I start you a GoFundMe?!”
We’re so jaded with impressions in the thousands that we forget that a human is attached to the eyeballs that were impressed upon.
By all means, tell me another place you know that is $free.99 and can show your content to thousands of people in the space of a few days.
I’ll wait… peers at imaginary wristwatch
So, perhaps you’re circling the plughole of social media algorithmic fall-out. What CAN you do?
- Let’s go to the Cone of Honesty
This is a great time to take stock of how you’re actually showing up. Do you feel like you’re putting out great content that is adding to people’s days, or have you been riding the coattails of that viral banger you put out three months ago?
Do you even WANT to be making the effort?
Be brutally honest with yourself. Are you creating New York Times bestseller content, or are you wiping your arse on the keyboard and hitting enter?
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2. How social is your social media?
If you’ve stopped having conversations, or you’re hoping that your audience will carry the engagement load for you, you’re missing the whole point. Social media is a bigger pool—but the game is still being fucking social, NOT parasocial.
If it feels like your views are swimming a toilet bowl in a place lower than hell itself, I bet that there are at least SOME views, SOME likes, and perhaps even SOME comments.
When is the last time you directly connected with one of those people? Because the people who see, like, and comment when you’re in 200-impression prison are the real McCoy. Don’t take them for granted.
Jump into some DMs, reply to those comments, get on a few calls, drag your hermit butt out into the (figurative) sunshine and start talking to people.
Social media doesn’t owe you shit, sugarcube.
But the people who show up when your reach is tanking?
You owe them a lot.
(And at least a reply)
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Same time next week?
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Gemma :)
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