No Commission, No Middle Man

I saw on Instagram a funny Chinese woman in a promotional video for a grape leaves canning factory. She speaks enthusiastically in a thick accent which I find hilarious and made me question just how racist I am for thinking so. Okay. Like.

Then I made the mistake of seeking out another video from the same profile. Now I get multiple videos in my feed from Sherry at artjusgrapeleaves every day. I watched a couple, still amused. After half a dozen, I had had my fill.

But still Instagram serves up the shorts. Now IG has decided I would probably like a different Chinese lady who sings songs about the "complete" engines she has for sale. A third Chinese lady points out all the features available in a prefab home. But by this point, I'm no longer amused by Chinese ladies barely speaking English.

One of the versions of the artjusgrapeleaves promos features Sherry in a car, spliced together with scenes from a Leonardo Dicaprio movie, where through the magic of editing, she appears to have a conversation with Leo about the virtues of Artjus grape leaves. IG now serves me up a promo with a different lady having the exact same conversation with the exact same clips of Leo, but selling engines. I have been presented with a Chinese knockoff of a Chinese viral clip. But I guess these days that's just called a "trend."

Point is, Instagram took something I had a good laugh over and hit me over the head with it until I was sick of it and could no longer enjoy it. And I think that's the core problem with these social media algorithms. Yes, I like ice cream. NO, I don't want ice cream for every meal, in the same portion and flavor, in bowls with slightly different designs.

I hate the way I see artists and creators forced to pigeonhole themselves on social media. You post and post and get nothing, and then you chance on something people like, and then in order to maintain engagement you're supposed to spit out a nonstop stream of content in the exact same style. Deviate too much, and you're not serving your microniche and you lose reach. Talk about your soul-crushing corporate structures...

Is this really what the audience wants? Because it can't be what creatives want.

I like to experiment. I write, I do designs and edits, I make videos. And I'm easily bored. I like to work in sets and projects. But once the idea has been explored and I think it's finished, I'm on to the next idea. Believe me, I have long lists of stories and things I'd like to get to, if I had time, if I didn't have to work two jobs, which is why you should buy me a coffee, hint hint. I would suffocate if I had to do the same thing over and over and over.

This doesn't make me good or even right. In fact, I'm wrong. You can tell by the score. The algorithm hasn't rewarded me with a wealth of fans and no more than a trickle of pennies. I always have to be open to the possibility that I'm just bad at expressing myself in an entertaining way or that what I have to say has no creative value. But since I'm compelled to say it regardless of what anyone thinks, I'm going to imagine that this is at least in part because I refuse to niche down, identify my target audience, and start serving up solutions to their problems. That's the way a marketer thinks.

I'm not going to pick out the chocolates in the box for you so you only get the ones with caramel. With me, you're going to get those, yes, and you're also going to get some stuffed with weird blue creme or teeming with nuts you're hopefully not allergic to. Bon appetit. Stuff your face.

Graype Leavasa.

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Confessions and Lies

Neil Oldman Buy Me a Coffee