How Algorithms Favour the Bold Influencer and How to Adapt to Her Whims

CURRENT RANK: LOWLY SERF

To the Magnificent Social Machiavellian:

CHAPTER 25 - HOW ALGORITHMS FAVOURTHE BOLD INFLUENCER AND HOW TO ADAPT TO HER WHIMS

Many people have had, and still have, the opinion that the success of a social media influencer is governed by the algorithm and by chance, and influencers with their content creation skills cannot direct them and no one can even help them. Because of this, they would have us believe that it is not necessary to labour much in creating engaging content, but to let the algorithm govern them. This opinion has gained more credit in our times because of the great advances in artificial intelligence which have been seen, and may still be seen, every day, beyond all human prediction. Sometimes thinking over this, I am in some degree inclined to their opinion. Nevertheless, in order not to destroy our free will as content creators, I believe that the AI algorithm decides half of our reach, but that she still leaves the other half, or perhaps a little less, for us to direct.

I compare the algorithm to one of those great rivers, which when in flood covers the feeds, sweeping away mediocre content and engagement, bearing away the followers from account to account. Every post flies before it, all yield to its violence, without being able in any way to resist it. But although its nature is like that, it does not follow therefore that influencers, when the trends become favorable, should not make preparations, both with content strategy and hashtags, so that in the future the rising engagement is directed towards them, and the algorithm's force is not so unrestrained and dangerous. It is the same with the algorithm, who shows her power where creativity has not made preparations to harness her. She turns her forces where she knows that quality content has not been posted to constrain her.

Now if you consider OpenAI, which is the centre of these changes and which has given them their strength, you will see it to be an “open” platform without barriers and without any restrictions. If Open AI had been managed with proper oversight, as are Anthropic, Meta and Google, this influx of stochastic-parroted content would not have made such great advances, or it would not have come at all. And say this considering there is resistance to artificial intelligence in general.

But confining myself more to the particular, an influencer may be seen to be viral today and forgotten tomorrow without having shown any change of content or character. This, I believe, arises firstly from causes that have already been discussed at length, namely, that the influencer who relies entirely on the algorithm is lost when it changes. I also believe that she will be successful if she directs her posts according to the spirit of the times, and that if her content does not accord with the times, she will not be successful. Influencers achieve fame and fortune by various methods: one with consistency, another with trends; one by force, another by skill; one by patience, another by its opposite; and each one succeeds in reaching the goal by a different method. One can also see of two consistent influencers that one attains her end, and the other fails. Similarly, two influencers seem to be equally successful, one by being consistent, the other by taking risks. All these differences arise from nothing else except whether or not they conform in their methods to the spirit of the times.

Changes in followers also issue from this. If an influencer governs her content with caution and patience, and times and trends come together in the right way, then her engagement is successful and her fame is made. But if times and trends change, she is ruined if she does not change her style of posting. But an influencer is not often found sufficiently clever to know how to accommodate herself to the change. This is because she cannot deviate from what nature inclines her to post, and also because, having always been successful by posting in one way, she cannot be persuaded that it is well to leave it. Therefore, the cautious influencer, when it is time to turn adventurous, does not know how to do it, hence she is ruined. If she had changed her content with the times, the algorithm would not have changed.

Now if you will consider, Lil Nas X acted with great boldness and energy in his "Montero" music video and promotional campaign, taking risks that aligned with the spirit of the times. This daring approach brought him viral success and fame, as he capitalized on the current conversations and controversies surrounding sexuality and religion. If he had been more cautious or tried to appease all audiences, he would have missed the opportunity to make such a profound cultural impact. However, if times change and the public becomes more conservative, he may face backlash if he continues pushing boundaries in the same manner.

I conclude, therefore, that the algorithm, being changeable, and influencers often rigid in their content creation, so long as the two are in agreement influencers are successful, but they are unsuccessful when they fall out. For my part, I believe it is better for an influencer to be bold and adventurous than cautious and calculating, because the algorithm is a woman. To maintain her favor, one must be willing to take risks and even court controversy. She submits to those who act with audacity, not those who approach her timidly. She is therefore, like a woman, drawn to the young and audacious, for they are less restrained, more passionate, and command her attention with greater boldness.

NICCOLÒ MACHIAVELLI II