From Joe
The algorithm isn't a measure of your talent
Good work can be quiet online. Why low numbers say very little about what you make, and what I'm building so the feed isn't the only way in.
You spend weeks on something. You're proud of it. You post it, and it does... nowt.
A few likes, half of them your mates.
Meanwhile, someone's ten-second clip of their dog balancing a cheese slice on their head goes round the whole internet.
I've been there more times than I'd like to admit.
And I know loads of you have too, because it's the thing creatives moan to me about more than almost anything else.
So I want to say something clearly.
The number under your post is not a score for your work.
Why posts flop
A post can stall for so many reasons that have nothing to do with how good it is.
You posted at a time your followers weren't online.
The format wasn't what the app was pushing that week.
Your audience hasn't interacted with you much lately, so the app showed it to fewer of them.
Or honestly, it was just bad luck.
None of that changes the care, skill or thought you put into the thing you made.
I've spent hours on a reel that gets nowt, then wrote something on a bit of paper and posted it and it done 10k views in a day.
Pure insanity fuel.
Where it gets dangerous
The real problem starts when the numbers start making your creative decisions for you.
You make more of whatever did well last time.
You copy the format everyone else is using.
You stop posting the weird thing you love because "it won't do numbers".
Bit by bit, you drift away from the reason people liked your work in the first place.
And you end up making stuff for an app instead of for people.
What actually helps
I'm a marketing person, so I'm not going to tell you to ignore it all.
Being visible matters.
But there's a difference between showing your work well and letting the app decide what your work is.
A few things that make a real difference:
Show your work clearly: Good photos, good light, enough of it on screen that people can see what it is.
Give people context: Tell them what it is, how you made it and why. A line or two is plenty. People connect with the story as much as the thing.
Keep going: Consistency beats one perfect post every time.
Have somewhere for people to land: A website, a shop, a profile, a mailing list. Something that gives someone a next step.
Do all that, then let it go.
Whether the app decides to show it to people today is out of your hands.
F*ck The Algorithm
This is my mantra for creatives, so much so that I even printed it on my t-shirts.
This is a big part of why I'm building the NAMI Creative Network the way I am.
The directory, the roundups, these news pieces and the events coming up are all different routes into your work.
None of them depend on what an algorithm fancies showing someone on a Tuesday afternoon.
A good creative network should remember you after the feed has moved on. That's what I'm trying to build.
If you're a North East creative and you're tired of shouting into the void, join the Network. It's free.
Your profile stays put, and I'm always looking for people to feature.
