Fuck the Algorithm

Can artists forge a career without the help of social media?

The article from Mix Mag in April 2019 said this

Deleting Facebook is misguided activism at your fingertips. In February of this year, Nils Frahm announced in a 355-word status his departure from the platform, citing “political and moral costs” for his decision. Frahm brought universal concerns about social media to the fore: the stranglehold of digital marketing, follower numbers as currency, and increased isolation behind smartphone screens. “It is quite easy,” he wrote, “All we need to do is practice what we preach.” 

But most artists cannot survive without the platform. Frahm’s admirable intentions aside, simply clicking a ‘terminate’ button cannot solve a systemic issue – that artists are incredibly dependent on a handful of social media platforms, whether they like it or not. Leaving an Internet nation state made up of 2.5 billion users, which also owns Whatsapp and Instagram, isn’t easy at all.

But this all changed when the pandemic hit, all we could do was go on social media?

I also came across another article from Mix Mag written 2019, Instagram will now hide ‘LIKES‘

Instagram is expected to hide most US users’ like counts next week, making the count only viewable to the poster. The change has been a long time coming due to controversy around the app’s impact on users’ mental health.

And in 2022…………….

Did Nils Frahm return? this is what I found from my google search.

And for Instagram in the US in 2022 did they discontinue the ‘LIKES’…………..

According to Kicksta

Instagram Hiding Likes Worldwide

Several other countries have already gone through this new update before it was brought to America. Those countries include:

• Canada
• Ireland
• Italy
• Japan
• Brazil
• Australia
• New Zealand

Instagram started to hide likes in Canada in April 2019; the other countries received the update in July 2019. According to a tweet from Instagram, the feedback from this early testing was positive, but Instagram acknowledged that this is a big change and the company is still testing to see how it works. Instagram also said it understands how visible like counts are important for many creators and influencers — a high like count, for instance, could have a positive impression on a brand looking at an influencers’ page — and added that the company is “actively thinking through ways for creators to communicate value to their partners.”

Midway through November, Instagram announced that the test is now open globally, with likes hidden for users worldwide. Now a random percentage of the 112.5 million Instagram accounts in the U.S. won’t see like counts, either. Instagram hasn’t announced whether this change will be permanent, but for now, it’s the reality for many users and their Instagram followers.