The Algorithm Is Training You, and You Don’t Even Know It
Read time: 4 minutes
One day you’re making content you love. The next, you’re checking analytics more than you’re checking in with yourself. And before you know it, you’re not making stuff because it feels right, you’re making it because it performs.
It starts small. A video flops, and you think, “Maybe I’ll tweak the title next time.” Then the next one gets a few more clicks, and suddenly you’re in a loop: change this, add that, cut this part down, all in service of the numbers. You tell yourself you’re just “optimizing,” but really? You’re just appeasing the algorithm. And it’s shaping you more than you’re shaping your content.
Creators don’t like to admit it, but most of us are just Pavlov’s dog at this point. Ding! A view. Ding! A like. Ding! A comment. Your brain lights up. Not because you’re proud of the work, but because the platform says, “Good job, here’s more reach.” We’ve swapped our instincts for instant feedback, and it’s killing creativity.
Here’s the ugly truth: the algorithm doesn’t care what you post, just how people react. It can’t tell the difference between a thoughtful documentary and a guy eating soap. If it gets clicks, it gets pushed. That’s why so much garbage ends up on your feed. Not because it’s good. But because it gets a rise out of people.
And the worst part? The more success you have, the harder it is to walk away. When likes turn into paychecks, it stops being just about art or expression. You start playing it safe. You repeat yourself. You don’t try new things, because new things don’t always work. And the algorithm? It punishes anything different. Over time, your content, the stuff you used to love making, starts to feel like a job you can’t quit.
Look at MKBHD. Started as a nerd in his bedroom talking tech. Now? He’s built a slick empire. But lately, the cracks are showing. That recent video where he was speeding 96mph in a 35 school zone? That wasn’t tech, that was spectacle. When you feel like every video needs to top the last one, you end up crossing lines you never thought you’d cross.
And it’s not just creators. Platforms don’t help either. They reward anything that gets attention, even if it’s dangerous, divisive, or flat-out trash. There’s no quality filter. Just clicks. Views. Comments. Doesn’t matter why someone watched, just that they did. It’s like rewarding someone for yelling in a library because they got everyone to look.
So how do you beat the system? You don’t play by its rules. Stop chasing numbers. Stop refreshing metrics. Hell, stop looking at them altogether. If you don’t know what’s “working,” you can’t be trained by it. Make what you want to make. Share the stuff you’d want to watch. If five people see it and love it? That’s better than 500,000 who forget it five seconds later.
The moment you start creating for yourself, not the algorithm, not the haters, not the hype, that’s the moment you take your creativity back. And yeah, maybe you won’t go viral. But you’ll sleep better. You’ll like your work more. And you’ll still be proud of it five years from now.
Because in the end, the algorithm might reward clicks
But real people remember truth.
