Social Media Algorithms - Tumblr Posts
I hate it but I can't stop
So... One of my irl friends just started following me, but since she doesn't use tumblr all that often, all my turtle spam completely messed up her algorithm. Now, it's all turtles, all the time. Real life and Internet.
She can't escape. My job here is done.
(Thank you for putting up with my tomfoolery, @reed-draws. ^^')
I'm going to tell you something that will be very hard to believe, but I swear to god it's true.
I know someone who, on THE DAY OF Biden's inauguration learned for the first time that we were about to have our first female Vice President.
This was a full adult person who had not heard about Kamala Harris until THE DAY OF the inauguration.
Somehow, not one person on their Facebook, Instagram, or Tiktok FYP had mentioned Kamala Harris.
Our algorithms are DIFFERENT. There are a lot of people in your life, probably more than you think, who do NOT know about the genocide in Palestine. They have NOT seen videos from journalists on the ground. They do NOT know how many people have been killed. They do NOT know about the starvation and famine. They do NOT know about the schools, hospitals, and refugee camps that have been bombed. They do NOT know about the mass graves.
I understand the frustration. I understand the bewilderment. I understand the anger.
Remember that the motivation that YOU feel is based on what YOU have seen, what YOU have read, what YOU have given the time and mental/emotional space to learn about.
Not everyone has done that. If that makes you angry, do something about it. BUT REMEMBER YOUR GOAL. Your goal is to increase the attention, money, and aid going to the people in Gaza. Punishing people for having an algorithm that's not exactly the same as yours does not achieve that goal. Start with education. Conversations. Providing resources. Sharing opportunities for aid.
It is not your job to punish. It is your job to provide. It is your job to funnel your frustrations productively, because your efforts are in service of the people of Palestine, not your own ego.
I'm going to tell you something that will be very hard to believe, but I swear to god it's true.
I know someone who, on THE DAY OF Biden's inauguration learned for the first time that we were about to have our first female Vice President.
This was a full adult person who had not heard about Kamala Harris until THE DAY OF the inauguration.
Somehow, not one person on their Facebook, Instagram, or Tiktok FYP had mentioned Kamala Harris.
Our algorithms are DIFFERENT. There are a lot of people in your life, probably more than you think, who do NOT know about the genocide in Palestine. They have NOT seen videos from journalists on the ground. They do NOT know how many people have been killed. They do NOT know about the starvation and famine. They do NOT know about the schools, hospitals, and refugee camps that have been bombed. They do NOT know about the mass graves.
I understand the frustration. I understand the bewilderment. I understand the anger.
Remember that the motivation that YOU feel is based on what YOU have seen, what YOU have read, what YOU have given the time and mental/emotional space to learn about.
Not everyone has done that. If that makes you angry, do something about it. BUT REMEMBER YOUR GOAL. Your goal is to increase the attention, money, and aid going to the people in Gaza. Punishing people for having an algorithm that's not exactly the same as yours does not achieve that goal. Start with education. Conversations. Providing resources. Sharing opportunities for aid.
It is not your job to punish. It is your job to provide. It is your job to funnel your frustrations productively, because your efforts are in service of the people of Palestine, not your own ego.