Everyone thinks they can game the algorithm. Post at the right time. Use the right hashtags. Trim your work into the perfect 15-second snack. They treat creativity like a slot machine, hoping if they pull the lever the right way, the feed will bless them. That is the lie.

The algorithm is not neutral. It was built to flatten. To bury the dangerous, the provocative, the unforgettable beneath a flood of safe, profitable sameness. It rewards content that keeps people scrolling, not work that makes people stop. And if your design makes someone stop, it is punished. That is the truth nobody wants to admit: the algorithm is allergic to impact.

Designers who worship the feed start sanding down their edges. They choose colours that trend, words that fit, formats that please. One day, they look up and realize they are not making designs anymore. They are making content. The work is optimized, palatable, invisible. And invisible work is dead work.

You cannot win by serving the machine. The machine is designed to eat you. The only way to survive is to break it. Post what does not fit. Flood the feed with tension. Stop chasing “best practices” and start making scars. Let the algorithm bury you — real work will live longer than the feed anyway.

The algorithm is your enemy. Treat it like one.