Just realized I was feeding the algorithm exactly what it wanted...

For months, I kept posting short, simple clips about my garden, maybe 15 seconds long. They'd get a few hundred views and die. Then last week, I posted a 2-minute video where I messed up planting tomatoes and had to redo the whole bed. I got frustrated on camera and said 'this is taking forever'. That video got pushed to 50k people in 48 hours. The algorithm didn't want my perfect tips... it wanted my messy, real failure. So one side says we should all be more 'real' to game the system. The other side says that just trains us to perform our worst moments for clicks. Which side are you on? Has making a mistake ever gone viral for you?

3 comments

3 Comments

tessaperry13d ago

Performing our worst moments just creates a new, sadder kind of perfect content.

richarddixon13d ago

My buddy Mark filmed his whole breakup for a vlog. It was so polished and sad, like a movie trailer for being miserable.

marybutler13d ago

Maybe it's the only way some people can process real pain anymore. Turning a mess into a story gives it a shape and an end, which real life often doesn't have. That polished, sad movie trailer might be how they finally make sense of the chaos. Calling it just sad content misses the point that creating it could be the thing that actually helps them move on. Sometimes you need to frame the disaster to stop feeling like it's swallowing you whole.