In the vast ocean of the internet, we find ourselves increasingly living on islands. Major tech companies such as Google, Meta, Microsoft, Apple, and Amazon have long been determining what you see, read, and can find online. They also know exactly what you will be buying in the near future. Data is King – and so is money!
Social media negative effects
One of the biggest accelerators are social media, which now function as a kind of slot machine. If you have a clean record or your account is large enough, the algorithm can still give you a dopamine fix that makes you feel like you belong somewhere. You are seen by others. Congratulations: according to the media and the rest of the world, you still matter!
For those who have done naughty things in the past – shown a female nipple, been reported unfairly, or simply have the odds against them – they are left with a lifelong shadowban and increasingly digital loneliness. You can happily pour money into those slot machines, but the profit in terms of visibility and engagement will rarely, if ever, be paid out. It is thanks to this way, tech companies and algorithms make room for paying customers, popular accounts, and everything that is a hype, to keep an audience online on their platforms. They want to keep the average user scrolling for as long as possible and of course, show you the most popular content blend with an endless amount of advertisements.
This is the main reason your field of view is getting smaller, leading you to end up on that small island, surrounded by the same content and people. Not a problem in itself, you might think, but the internet used to be the place to meet new people, showcase your work to a broader audience, and yes; connect with the world.
“While creative entrepreneurs recently faced serious problems due to a pandemic, we are now dealing with an even bigger issue.”
Want to be visible on social media? Pay up!
Entrepreneurship is not getting any easier this way. Nor is it getting any more enjoyable. The number of websites and YouTube channels showing you how to ‘outsmart and survive the algorithms’ have now become a business model themselves and are increasingly facing the terror of those same algorithms.
While creative entrepreneurs recently faced serious problems due to a pandemic, we are now dealing with an even bigger issue. American tech giants are decimating the entire small and medium-sized business sector by making them completely invisible and/or letting them pay for visibility. Instead of focusing on your creations/products, you now have to spend almost all your time and effort making those same creations and products visible.
In the near future, this will likely lead to a situation where people may not even want to start (online) businesses. We are probably more creative than ever in generations past, but we are also realizing that with all that creativity, we can actually do less in reality, unless you have a lot of money and the means to hire full-time staff to ensure your work is visible to others. And if you are lucky and the algorithms are in your favor, you might even earn enough money to purchase a beautiful boat, so you can at least escape from your lonely island. In all other cases, I recommend you learn to swim very well!