“Mum, are you listening? Mum? MUM?! MUMMMM!!!”
There he goes on a Sunday morning: my almost-five-year-old and his constant chatter. From the moment he opens his eyes, he begins narrating his stream of consciousness. I admit most of it becomes background noise as I go about my day.
The same is happening in writing, social media, and content. We’re told to keep churning out posts, articles, Reels and newsletters consistently, even when we have nothing to say.
The fact of the matter is we now have more content than we can ever consume. Everyone is chasing after the increasingly elusive clout. We fervourly study the algorithm, recreate and follow trends, hoping that something sticks. We’re all afraid to disconnect for fear of a drop in our engagement. We cling on to every morsel and whisper of change that gave us a glimmer of hope in the journey of accession towards joining the echelons of thought leaders and influencers.
Yet here we are… a sea of sad beige girlies in our homogeneous era, too afraid to disconnect for fear of losing the adulation and adoration of the social media gods and their mighty algorithm.
What if we stop giving a f*ck about the algorithm?
That’s precisely what I did.
Back in March, I made a conscious decision to scrap my “content calendar”. Instead, I chose to be more thoughtful and selective. This led to people being genuinely interested in what I had to say. I also made a deliberate effort to distance myself from screens and technology. This allowed me to focus on being more creative, engaging in meaningful conversations with real people, and finding practical and creative solutions to problems by putting in real effort.
Without the shackles and expectations from algorithms, I felt free to write, draw and design my way.
It’s strange how not caring about algorithms and trends now rewards me more than when I spent hours trying to game the system.
Maybe the key is to create genuine content and let your audience find you.
I don’t have all the answers, but what I do know is this: If you’re struggling with views and engagements that don’t reflect your efforts, stop caring about the algorithm. Instead…
Look up, burrow deep, disappear.
Stop. Observe. Process.
Edit your thoughts. Create with intention.
We need you. The world is larger and wider than your beautiful creations being reduced to datasets. Keep creating what brings you joy. F*ck the algorithm. F*ck everyone else.
