Pop Quiz: Algorithms

Pop Quiz: Do you know when algorithms launched on social media platforms? (It feels like they’ve always been driving our feeds, but in fact this isn’t the case!) 

I’ll give you a clue - it’s the same year everyone is nostalgic for right now. Yep, 2016.

Instagram launched in 2010, with a swift rise in adoption by 2012. People forget that it started as a platform to digitally socialize with people you (somewhat) personally knew. It’s funny to think about now, since social media is largely associated with breeding behaviors that manifest as anti-social in real life. 

People are drawn to reminisce about 2016 because it felt like a calmer, less chaotic time. Users were more in control of what they were digesting online - or at least felt that their consumption choices were intentional and personally connected to people they knew and their sought-out interests. We decided what we wanted to see - we weren’t provided with limitless content. 

I’m hearing a lot of conversations, both online and offline, of people feeling exhausted by the constant deluge of information, of content produced to bait and elicit extreme emotion. Public resistance is growing - more people are unplugging (12% drop in smartphone use), bricking their phones (brick phone sales spiked 148% last year for 18-24 year olds), finding solace in “analog” lifestyles. 

We’re taking to DMs, finding joy in IRL experiences, and remembering what it means to be human - moving away from the need to label everything about ourselves to fit into online archetypes and manufactured “communities”. 

However, social media isn’t going away. Creators need to build businesses that are not reliant on algorithms, and brands need to find ways to cut through the noise online to prove they can connect on a human level.